An epidemiological study of the effects of statin use on airflow limitation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Background and objective: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is considered to be a systemic inflammatory disease, and systemic inflammation has been noted as a factor contributing to cardiovascular disease, which is one of the comorbidities associated with COPD. On the other hand, pleiotropic effects, such as the anti‐inflammatory effects of statins, have attracted attention in recent years, and there have been a variety of reports regarding the usefulness of statins for patients with COPD. Methods: We investigated whether the use or non‐use of statins influenced the prevalence of airflow limitation. All outpatients who were over the age of 40 years and who regularly visited a primary health care facility were invited to participate. Each participant underwent spirometry and completed a questionnaire regarding their clinical status, which was used to screen for COPD. A variety of factors that are potentially related to airflow limitation were assessed. Results: Of the 853 patients included in the study, 81 (9.5%) had airflow limitation. The prevalence of airflow limitation was 2.3% among the 89 patients with a history of statin use, which was five times lower than the prevalence of airflow limitation among patients who had not used statins (10.5%). Among the 347 patients with a history of past or current smoking, airflow limitation was not observed in the 30 patients who had used statins. However, by multivariate analysis, statin use was not significantly associated with a lower prevalence of airflow limitation. Conclusions: This is the first cross‐sectional study from Japan that has demonstrated that statin use has a potential impact on airflow limitation in patients with COPD.