Abstract： Objective To investigate the effect of Huanglian Jiedu Decoction on aortic atherosclerotic inflammation and plaque stability in ApoE-/- mice,as well as the mechanism of action of Huanglian Jiedu Decoction in the treatment of aortic plaque sta-bility.Methods A total of 36 ApoE-/- mice were randomly divided into blank group,model group,atorvastatin group,and low-,medium-,and high-dose Huanglian Jiedu Decoction groups,with 6 mice in each group.The ApoE-/- mice in the model group and the administration groups were given high-fat diet to establish a model of aortic atherosclerosis;after 8 weeks of modeling,the mice in the low-,medium-,and high-dose Huanglian Jiedu Decoction groups were given Huanglian Jiedu Decoction at doses of 10,20 and 40 g/(kg·day),respectively,those in the atorvastatin group were given atorvastatin at a dose of 10 mg/(kg·day),and those in the blank group and the model group were given an equal volume of distilled water,by gavage once a day for 8 weeks.After related samples were collected at the end of week 16,hematoxylin-eosin staining was used to observe the pathological and structural changes of aortic intima;a semi-automatic biochemical analyzer was used to measure the serum levels of total cholesterol(TC),triglyceride(TG),low-density lipoprotein cholesterol(LDL-C),and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol(HDL-C);ELISA was used to measure the content of interleukin-1β(IL-1β),interleukin-6(IL-6),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),and interleukin-10(IL-10);the special histopathological staining technique was used to measure the content of macrophages,alpha-smooth muscle actin(α-SMA)-positive cells,collagen fibers,and lipids in plaques,so as to calculate plaque vulnerability index(VI).Results Huanglian Jiedu Decoction significantly improved the pathological changes of the aor-tic wall.Compared with the blank group,the model group had significant increases in the serum levels of TC,TG,and LDL-C(P＜0.05),a significant reduction in the serum level of HDL-C(P＜0.05),significant increases in the content of IL-1β,IL-6,and TNF-α(P＜0.05),a significant reduction in the content of IL-10(P＜0.05),and a significant increase in VI(P＜0.05).Compared with the model group,the medium-and high-dose Huanglian Jiedu Decoction groups had significant reductions in the serum lev-els of TG,TC,and LDL-C(P＜0.05),a significant increase in the serum level of HDL-C(P＜0.05),significant reductions in the content of IL-1β,IL-6,and TNF-α(P＜0.05),and a significant increase in the content of IL-10(P＜0.05),and all administration groups had a sig-nificant reduction in the VI of aortic intima plaques(P＜0.05).The high-dose Huanglian Jiedu Decoction group and the atorvastatin group had similar improvements in the above indicators(P＞0.05).Conclusion Huanglian Jiedu Decoction can improve inflam-matory response and plaque stability in the aorta vessels of ApoE-/- mice with AS in a dose-dependent manner,possibly by re-ducing the levels of blood lipids and alleviating inflammatory injury.