Objective To explore the effect of Liangxue Xiaofeng Powder（凉血消风散） on psoriasis vulgaris of blood-heat syndrome and to explore the possible mechanism. Methods A total of 116 psoriasis vulgaris patients of blood-heat syndrome were randomly divided into treatment group and control group with 58 cases in each group. The control group was given conventional Western medicine including oral acitretin capsules and external use of compound flumethasone ointment; the treatment group additionally received oral Liangxue Xiaofeng Powder

decocted in water

one dose daily. Both groups were treated for 4 weeks. Psoriasis area and severity index（PASI） score and total score of TCM symptoms were assessed before and after treatment

and the clinical effect was evaluated after treatment. The levels of serum CC chemokine-ligand 20（CCL20）

interleukin 17（IL-17）

tumor necrosis factor α（TNF-α）

vascular endothelial growth factor（VEGF）

matrix metalloproteinase 9（MMP-9）

transforming growth factor β1（TGF-β1）

CD3

+

CD4

+

/CD8

+

and CD4

+

were detected before and after treatment. Results After treatment

the PASI score and the total score of TCM symptoms in the treatment group were lower than those in the control group（P

<

0.05）. The total effective rate in the treatment group was 94.83%（55/58）

which was higher than 79.31%（46/58） in the control group（P

<

0.05）. The levels of serum CCL20

IL-17

TNF-α

VEGF

MMP-9

TGF-β1

CD3

+

CD4

+

/CD8

+

and CD4

+

in the treatment group were significantly lower than those in the control group（P

<

0.05）. Conclusion Liangxue Xiaofeng Powder combined with western medicine had more remarkable therapeutic effect than simple use of routine western medicine in improving clinical symptoms of psoriasis vulgaris patients with blood-heat syndrome. The mechanism may be related to the action of reducing inflammation

anti-fibrosis

and regulating immune response.