Objective To evaluate the disease course of acute kidney injury (AKI) induced by single intravenous injection of cisplatin in rabbits.Methods Forty male New Zealand rabbits were divided into 5 groups, 8 rabbits in each group. Acute kidney injury models were made by a single injection of cisplatin in the ear vein of rabbits, and five groups were defined as T₆, T₁₂, T₂₄, T₃₆ and T₄₈ according to the detection time of the blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine (SCr) in the rabbits. Blood BUN and SCr were detected before and immediately after cisplatin injection. The data were analyzed with SPSS 22.0 software, and P<0.05 was considered as statistically significant. The rabbits were sacrificed and kidney samples were taken for routine pathological examination.Results Compared with the data pre-injection, the blood BUN and SCr were increased significantly, and the experimental rabbits were consistent with the criteria of AKI according to the criteria of "Kidney Disease:Improving Global Outcomes Organization (KDIGO standard)" at 24 h after injection of cisplatin. The acute kidney injury of the rabbits was progressively worsening in 48 hours. More severe pathological changes were observed in the 48 hour group than in the other groups.Conclusions Progressive renal injury of rabbit kidney can be induced by single intravenous injection of cisplatin.