In agreement with previous studies 13, 37, sustained M1‐like macrophage recruitment was observed in the kidney of NX‐IRI rats, which was significantly inhibited by ATIII administration; (ii) up‐regulation of M1‐like macrophage‐dependent cytokines such as TNFα and iNOS was blunted in ATIII‐administered rats; (iii) previous study showed that prolonged up‐regulation of IL‐1β contributed the CKD progression after IRI 38, which was consistent with our results; more importantly, ATIII was also able to decrease IRI‐induced up‐regulation of IL‐1β. Here, NOS2 is linked to chronic kidney disease.