Ischemic acute kidney injury (AKI) in experimental diabetes mellitus (DM) is associated with a more severe deterioration in renal function compared with non-diabetic animals. We evaluated whether the early recovery phase from AKI is associated with a more prolonged and sustained decrease in renal perfusion in diabetic mice, which could contribute to the impaired recovery of renal function. Perfusion to the renal cortex (CBF) and medulla (MBF) was evaluated by laser-Doppler flowmetry in 10-12 week-old anesthetized mice with type 2 DM (db/db), heterozygous (db/m), and non-diabetic (C57/Bl) mice. After baseline measurements, the right renal artery was clamped for 20 minutes followed by reperfusion for 60 min. The data demonstrated that in all 3 groups studied the reperfusion phase was characterized by a significant increase in the MBF/CBF ratio. Moreover, during recovery from ischemia there was a marked prolongation in the time required to reach peak reperfusion in the cortex (db/db: 20.7± 4.0, db/m: 12.92± 1.9, C57Bl: 9.3± 1.3, min) and the medulla (db/db: 20.8± 3.2, db/m: 12.88± 1.89, C57Bl: 11.2± 1.2, min). Additionally, the slope of recovery phase was lower in db/db mice (cortex: 61.9± 23.1, medulla: 16.3± 3.6 %/ min) than in C57Bl mice (cortex: 202.2± 41.6, medulla: 42.1± 7.2 %/ min). Our findings indicate that renal ischemia is associated with a redistribution of blood flow from cortex to medulla, not related to DM. Furthermore, renal ischemia in db/db mice results in a marked impairment in reperfusion of the renal cortex and medulla during the early post-ischemic period.