Objective To explore the possible mechanism of Tiaozhi Fang Ⅰ against atherosclerosis. Methods Forty-eight male New Zealand white rabbits were randomized into sham operation group（ n = 8）

the high dose herb group（ n = 10）

low dose herb group（ n = 10）

positive control group（ n = 10） and model group（ n = 10）. Rabbits were made atherosclerosis models by high-fat diet except for the sham operation group. The sham operation group and the model group were given 10 ml/（ kg·d） normal saline by gavage. The positive control group was given 30 mg/（ kg·d） atorvastatin calcium by gavage. The high and low dose herb groups were given Tiaozhi Fang Ⅰ 12. 10 and 3. 02 g/（ kg·d） by gavage. After 3 months

the levels of rabbits’ serum total cholesterol（ TC）

triglyceride（ TG）

low density lipoprotein cholesterol（ LDL-C）

high density lipoprotein cholesterol（ HDL-C）

superoxide dismutase（ SOD）

malonaldehyde（ MDA）

serum tumor necrosis factorα（ TNF-α）

interleukin 6（ IL-6）

intercellular adhesion molecule 1（ ICAM-1） and vascular cell adhesion molecule 1（ VCAM-1） in each group were determined. The expressions of aorta abdominalis low density lipoprotein cholesterol receptor（ LDL-R） and VCAM-1 mRNA were detected by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction（ RT-PCR） method. Results Compared with the model group

TC

TG

LDL-C and MDA in the high and low dose herb groups decreased; SOD level increased. The levels of TNF-α

IL-6

ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 and VCAM-1 mRNA expression in the high dose herb group decreased; LDLR mRNA expression increased（ P < 0. 05 or P < 0. 01）. Compared with the positive control group

SOD level in the high dose herb group increased; TNF-α level decreased（ P < 0. 05）. The difference of indexes between high and low dose herb groups was not significant（ P > 0. 05）. Conclusion Tiaozhi Fang Ⅰ might improve blood lipid

reduce serum inflammatory factor

up-regulate LDL-R mRNA and down-regulate VCAM-1 mRNA

which might be one of the mechanisms of anti-atherosclerosis.