Objective       To investigate the therapeutic effects of simvastatin on the pulmonary function

respiratory tract and systematic inflammation in acute exacerbation chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) in elderly patients.        Methods        Eighty elderly patients  suffering from AECOPD who hospitalized in our department from January 2009 to August 2012 were randomly and prospectively divided into experimental group (with an average age of 78.67±

3.25

n=40) and control group (with an average age of 83.25±5.50

n=40). The control group was given conventional treatment for 2 weeks

meanwhile

the experimental group was added a simvastatin therapy (20 mg/d) beside the conventional treatment. ELISA was performed to assess the level of IL-8 in the sputum and blood sputum obtained before and after the 2 weeks’ treatment. A pulmonary function detector was used to analyze the pulmonary function indices

such as FEV

1

FEV

1

%

and FEV

1

/FVC at above time points group.       Results      Only 70 patients finished our study

including 33 in experimental group and 37 in the control. Simvastatin therapy resulted in a significant improvement in the pulmonary function indices compared with those before treatment (P0.01)

which were also obvious better than control group after 2 weeks’ treatment (

P

0.01). Simvastatin therapy also remarkably reduced the sputum and sputum levels of IL-8 than those before treatment (

P

0.01)

and these levels were also significantly lower than those in the control after treatment (

P

0.01).        Conclusion      Combining conventional treatment with simvastatin therapy significantly improves lung function

and alleviates respiratory tract and systematic inflammation in elderly patients suffering form AECOPD.