Objective: To investigate efficacy of Xiaoyin decoction combined with narrow band ultraviolet (NB-UVB) in treatment of psoriasis vulgaris of blood-heat type and its effect on expression levels of interleukin-17 (IL-17)

interleukin-23 (IL-23) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) of peripheral blood. Method: The 60 patients with psoriasis vulgaris of blood-heat type were randomly divided into treatment group and control group

n=30 in each group. Treatment group was treated with Xiaoyin decoction combined with NB-UVB and control group was treated with NB-UVB alone. The treatment course was 8 weeks for both groups. Another 30 healthy volunteers served as the normal control group. Expression levels of IL-17

IL-23 and IL-6 in healthy control group and patients with psoriasis vulgaris were detected before and after treatment

and Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) scores were recorded respectively before treatment

4 weeks after treatment and 8 weeks after treatment. Result: Effective rate was 83.3% in treatment group

higher than 56.7% in control group (P<0.05). PASI score was (3.30±1.13) in treatment group and (6.00±1.10) in control group after treatment

with statistically significant difference (P<0.01). Expression levels of IL-17

IL-23 and IL-6 in treatment group and control group were significantly higher than those of healthy control group before treatment (P<0.01);there was statistically significant difference in expression levels of IL-17

IL-23 and IL-6 before and after treatment in both groups (P<0.01). After treatment

there was statistically significant difference in above indicators between treatment group and control group (P<0.05

P<0.01). There was positive correlation between serum levels of IL-17

IL-23

IL-6 and PASI scores in treatment group and control group. Conclusion: Xiaoyin decoction combined with NB-UVB had better effect than NB-UVB treatment alone

and mechanism may be associated with decreasing serum expression levels of IL-17

IL-23 and IL-6 in Th17 cells.