Abstract:[Objective] To investigate the potential intervention mechanism of Yougui Pills on the degenerative lumbar disc structure in rats. [Methods] Thirty male SD rats were randomly divided into 3 groups with 10 rats in each group. The normal control group was healthy rats without special treatment, while, the model group had intervertebral disc degeneration established by annulus fibrosus punctured. In addition, the drug group was given Yougui pill for 2 weeks on the basis of the model group. Serum levels of inflammatory cytokines, including IL-10, MIF and TNF-α were detected by ELISA, while the expression levels of type II collagen and Notch1 protein in intervertebral disc tissues were detected by western blot. [Results] Compared with normal control group, the serum interleukin-10 (IL-10) [(22.3±2.8) pg/ml vs (30.9±1.7) pg/ml vs (53.2±7.5) pg/ml, P<0.001], macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) [(0.3±0.0) pg/ml vs (1.3±0.3) pg/ml vs (0.6± 0.2) pg/ml, P<0.001] and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) [(12.5±3.0) pg/ml vs (52.6±1.5) pg/ml vs (34.9±3.2) pg/ml, P<0.001], additionally, the tissue expression of Notch1 protein significantly increased [(0.1±0.0) vs (0.8±0.1) vs (0.4±0.0), P<0.001], while the type II collagen protein expression decreased significantly [(0.9±0.1) vs (0.2±0.0) vs (0.6±0.3), P<0.001] in the model group and drug group. However, the drug group proved significantly higher serum IL-10 (P<0.05), whereas significantly lower MIF and TNF-α (P<0.05), as well as significantly higher tissue expression of type II collagen than the model group (P<0.05). [Conclusion] TheYougui Pill can inhibit the inflammatory response and reduce the degradation of extracellular matrix in rats with intervertebral disc degeneration, thus alleviating the intervertebral disc degeneration in rats. The mechanism may be related to the regulation of Notch signaling pathway.