OBJECTIVE： To observe the improvement effects of water extract of Glycyrrhiza uralensis on acute hepatic injury caused by triptolide and its effects on the levels of IL-10 and TNF-α in rats. METHODS： A total of 60 healthy male SD rats were randomized into blank control group， model group， positive control group （magnesium isoglycyrrhizinate） and G. uralensis water extract low-dose， middle-dose and high-dose groups. Blank control group and model group were given isochoric normal saline intragastrically； positive control group was given Magnesium isoglycyrrhizinate liquid intragastrically （13.5 mg/kg）； G. uralensis water extract low-dose， middle-dose and high-dose groups were given G. uralensis water extract intragastrically 1 mL （120， 240， 480 mg/kg， by the amount of extract）， qd， for consecutive 7 d. At 8th day of administration， model group， positive control group and G. uralensis water extract groups were given Triptolide liquid intragastrically （0.6 mg/kg） to establish acute liver injury model. HE staining was used to detect the pathological changes of liver tissue in rats. The activities of ALT and AST in serum were determined by enzyme coupling reaction. The protein expression of IL-10 and TNF-α in liver tissue were analyzed by Western blotting. RESULTS： Compared with blank control group， obvious pathological changes of liver tissue in rats were observed in model group； serum activities of ALT and AST， the protein expression level of TNF-α in liver tissue were increased significantly， while the protein expression level of IL-10 was decreased significantly （P＜0.01）. Compared with model group， pathological changes of liver tissue were relieved significantly. Except for the activity of AST in serum of rats in G. uralensis water extract low-dose group， the activities of ALT and AST in serum， the protein expression level of TNF-α in liver tissue were decreased significantly in G. uralensis groups， while the protein expression level of IL-10 in liver tissue was increased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. CONCLUSIONS： G. uralensis water extract can relieve triptolide-induced acute liver injury in rats， the mechanism of which may be associated with expression down-regulation of pro-inflammatory factor TNF-α and expression up-regulation of anti-inflammatory factor IL-10.