Objective：To determine the effects of recovery and benefiting kidney soup（R&B，a capsule containing several Chinese herbs）on pathology changes of synovial tissues and expressions of related cytokines in rats with type Ⅱ collagen induced arthritis （CIA） and to further discuss the possible mechanism of R&B soup treatment for rheumatoid arthritis（RA）. Methods：RA in SD rats was induced using cattle collagen Ⅱand the rats were divided into normal group，model group，methotrexate（MTX） group，large，medium and small doses of R&B soup groups. Rat feet swelling rates were calculated；serum tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α） and interleukin-17（IL-17） levels were detected by ELISA；synovial matrix metalloproteinase-3（MMP-3） levels were detected by im－munohistochemistry assay；light microscopic was used to observe rat feet joint synovial tissues pathological changes. Results：In－flammatory scores of RA were significantly decreased in high dose R&B soup group and MTX group compared with those of model group（F=156.671；P=0.000）. Serum TNF-α and IL-17 levels were also significantly decreased in high，medium dose R&B soup groups and MTX group（TNF-α：F=20.233，P=0.000；IL-17：F=205.412，P=0.000）；no significant difference in serum TNF-α and IL-17 was observed between high dose R&B soup group and MTX group（TNF-α：P=0.952；IL-17：P=0.142）. MMP-3 levels in cartilage and synovium were significantly decreased in high dose R&B soup group and MTX group than in model group（F=14.867；P=0.000）；there was no difference in MMP-3 levels in cartilage and synovium between high dose R&B soup group and MTX group（P=0.08）. Conclusions：R&B soup is revealed to alleviate pathological damages of RA rats through inhibiting the expressions of TNF-α，IL-17，MMP-3 and other inflammatory mediators，which provide scientific proofs for treating RA with R&B soup.