Abstract

Background
There is a growing interest in the potential beneficial effects of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl-glutarylcoenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors drugs (statins) in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as anti-inflammatory agent. The basis of the systemic inflammation in COPD comes from two possibilities: spill-over effect or inherent systemic-based pro-inflammatory state conferred by a genetic disposition. The inhaler-based therapy for COPD aims to reduce symptoms, improve quality of life and reduce hospitalization, but does not substantially change disease progression or reduce mortality.
Objective
To assess the efficacy and safety of statin therapy in COPD patients with evidence of inflammatory markers.

Methods
Ninety patients were included in the study, aged 40 years or more, who visit the outpatient private clinic in Babylon government, Iraq from September 2012 to April 2016. They were divided randomly for 3 groups (receiving 40 mg, 10 mg atorvastatin or placebo, respectively), in addition to their baseline treatment. Severity reassessment performed after 6 months duration of treatment as well as hospitalization frequency and mortality.

Results
Statin therapy showed a significant improvement in the both doses treated groups regarding the HsCRP, CAT (chronic obstructive airway disease assessment test) score and forced expiratory volume in first second after 6 months of treatment. This improvement fails to be reported significant effect on CAT score when compared to placebo group. Thus, statin treatment doesn’t show any symptomatic improvement as measured by CAT score over placebo treatment.
Conclusion
The statin treatment in patient with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can be useful in form of
improvement of hospitalization, number of exacerbations but not mortality.