Prescribed mixtures of Chinese herbs are given to patients with influenza. A common formula contains Jin Yin Hua (honeysuckle flower), Lian Qiao (forsythia fruit), Bo He (field mint), Jing Jie (schizonepeta), Jie Geng (root of balloon flower), Gan Cao (licorice root), Dang Gui (A. sinensis root), Dang Shen (Codonopsis root), Chai Hu (thorowax), Qianghuo (Notopterygium root) and Sheng Jiang (fresh ginger rhizome). Intriguingly, nine of these 11 herbs have been shown to possess antiinflammatory properties. A. sinensis is dose-dependently protective during lethal experimental sepsis and endotoxemia (37) via its ability to limit release of HMGB1, as has already been discussed. There are many examples of Jie Geng (root of balloon flower), reducing both production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and proinflammatory mediators (such as reactive oxygen species and nitric oxide), with these effects likely to be mediated through suppression of activation of NF-kB [e.g. see ref. (67) ]. Sheng Jiang (fresh ginger rhizome), Gan Cao (licorice root) and Lian Qiao (forsythia fruit) also reduce levels of inflammatory cytokines via suppression of NF-kB induction (e.g. see refs (68) (69) (70) . Thus it seems that a mixture of herbs, as traditionally prescribed, is likely to have profound effects on the inflammatory cytokine balance, warranting further investigation of the mixture itself in vitro and in vivo.