The present study was designed to reveal the formula principles of Kouyanqing granule (KYQG) for the antiinflammatory effects. According to uniform design

eleven KYQG samples with different herb proportions were prepared on the premise of the original formula proportions. Experiments with Human oral keratinocytes (HOK) were conducted to evaluate KYQG samples-anti-inflammation effects. Grey relational analysis approach was used to analyze the relevance between the five herbs and the biological effects in the KYQG samples. The results demonstrated that Flos lonicerae (flower bud of Lonicera macranthoides Hand.Mazz.) is the key herb performing an obviously higher contribution to the regulation of TNF-α

IL-8

IL-6

and IL-1β. Radix scrophulariae (root of Scrophularia ningpoensis Hemsl.)

Radix ophiopogonis (root of Ophiopogon japonicus (Thunb.) Ker-Gawl.)

and Radix asparagi (root of Asparagus cochinchinensis (Lour.) Merr.) are closely related to IL-6 and IL-1β. Radix et rhizoma glycyrrhizae (root of Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch.) contributes more to the suppression of TNF-α. The four herbs noted above play a role in strengthening the antiinflammatory effects of Flos lonicerae (flower bud of Lonicera macranthoides Hand.Mazz.).