Abstract:

To observe the influence of simvastatin on clinical symptoms,pulmonary function and plasma levels of Fas／Apo1， tumor necrosis factorα(TNFα)and interleukin8 (IL8) in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) and investigate the therapeutic action of Simvastatin on COPD． MethodsSixty COPD patients during a stable phase were randomly divided into two groups on average and received either simvastatin 20?mg once daily(the intervention group) or a placebo (the control group ) for 8 weeks． In addition, 27 healthy persons were enrolled as the healthy control group.The clinical symptom scores, pulmonary function and the levels of plasm  Fas／Apo1,TNFαand IL8 were measured before and after treatmentResults There  was no  significant differences in FEV1 and FEV1 % between the intervention group and the control group before and after treatment （all P＞0.05）. The levels of plasm  Fas／Apo1,　TNFα and IL8 were significantly higher in the intervention group than in healthy control group（P＜0.05）. The clinical symptom scores and the levels of plasm  Fas／Apo1,TNFα and IL8 were significantly decreased after treatment in the intervention group（P＜0.05）. There were significant differences in the clinical symptom scores and the levels of plasm Fas／Apo1,TNFα and IL8 between the intervention group and the control group after treatment（P＜0.05）. ConclusionSimvastatin can reduce circulating markers of inflammation and accommodate cell apoptosis in COPD patients during a stable phase.

Key words: Pulmonary disease， chronic obstructive； Apoptosis; Inflammation; Simvastatin