Egyptian Journal of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis (2013) 62, 6569

The Egyptian Society of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis

Egyptian Journal of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Anti inammatory eects of statin in COPD

a,* b
Nasef Abdelsalam Rezk , Ahmad Elewa

a
Chest Medicine, Mansoura University, Egypt
b
Clinical Pathology, Mansoura University, Egypt

Received 10 November 2012; accepted 15 January 2013

Available online 21 February 2013

KEYWORDS Abstract Introduction: Statins are now becoming recognized as powerful antiinammatory agents
Statin; that exert benecial effects beyond low-density lipoprotein cholesterol reduction [1].
COPD COPD patients receiving statins obtain a benet from these therapeutic agents. Clearly, the best
medical evidence for the association of statins with improved outcomes for COPD patients [2].
We aimed in this study to assess anti inammatory effects of statin in COPD patients.
Patients and methods: We studied 28 patients with chronic obstructive lung disease. Fourteen
patients (11 male and 3 female) receiving statin due to hyperlipidemia (9 patients received simvasta-
tin and 5 patients atorvastatin), and other 14 patients (11 male and 3 female) not hyperlipidemic. All
patients were subjected to Pulmonary function (spirometery) pre and at end of study. Sputum
induction before and at end of 10 months from statin starting, and determination of leptin, total
and differential cell count pre and at end of study.
Results: After 10 months from statin intake we found signicant decrease of TCC in statin grou-
pand also high signicant decrease of sputum leptin, neutrophils, and COPD exacerbation in the
same group when compared to control group. And signicant decrease of TCC in statin group
pre and at end of study with high signicant decreases of sputum leptin, neutrophils, and COPD
exacerbation of statin group pre and 10 months of statin intake. Titropium bromide has positive
signicant effects on sputum leptin in statin group.
Conclusion: We conclude that statin may lower the exacerbation in patients with chronic
obstructive lung diseases and may lower the total cell count of inammatory cells, sputum leptin
and neutrophils.
2013 The Egyptian Society of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis. Production and hosting by Elsevier
B.V. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.

* Corresponding author. Mobile No.: +01063840128.

Introduction
E-mail address: rawanmn@hotmail.com (N.A. Rezk).
Peer review under responsibility of The Egyptian Society of Chest
COPD is a common preventable and treatable disease is char-
Diseases and Tuberculosis.
acterized by persistent airow limitation that is usually pro-
gressive and associated with enhanced chronic inammatory
response in the airway and the lung to noxious particles and
Production and hosting by Elsevier gases exacerbations and co morbidity contribute to overall
severity in individual patient [17].

0422-7638 2013 The Egyptian Society of Chest Diseases and Tuberculosis. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejcdt.2013.01.006
66 N.A. Rezk, A. Elewa

Statins, inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl coenzyme temperature for 7 min each. Subjects then inhaled the hyper-
A reductase, are potent inhibitors of cholesterol biosynthesis tonic saline aerosols for three periods of 7 min. Following each
and have greatly improved the management of ischaemic heart period of hypertonic inhalation, subjects were asked to blow
disease. Recent studies suggest that direct antithrombotic and their nose and to rinse their mouth and gargle their throat thor-
anti-inammatory effects associated with treatment with oughly with water. They were then encouraged to cough and
statins may at least partly account for the reduction of expectorate sputum into a sterile plastic container, which was
cardiovascular events. In particular,statins reduce high kept on ice. The procedure was terminated after three periods
sensitive C reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumour necrosis factor of 7 min or after a fall in FEV1 of 20% from the baseline value.
a, and metalloproteinase 9 production [3].
Statins are now becoming recognized as powerful antiinam- Sputum processing [6]
matory agents that exert benecial effects beyond low-density
lipoprotein cholesterol reduction. Upregulation of endothelial Sputum was processed within 15 min after termination of the
function (i.e., eNOS enzyme activity) is thought to be a primary induction. The volume of the whole sputum sample was deter-
mechanism responsible for these antiinammatory properties. mined, and an equal volume of 0.1% dithiothreitol was added.
Pruefer et al. [6] now provide additional evidence that statin The samples were agitated on a vortex mixer in a wide-bore
therapy attenuates inammation and further extend out under- plastic test tube and placed in a shaking water bath for
standing of this very exciting class of cardiovascular agents [1]. 15 min at 37 C to ensure complete homogenization.
Recently it has been shown that statins can modify the bal- The samples were then ltered through 48-mm nylon gauze
ance of T helper subset 1 (Th 1) and 2 (Th 2) cells by inhibition (Thompson, Ontario, Canada) and agitated on a vortex mixer.
of Th1 development and augmentation of Th 2 development of A total cell count (TCC) was performed on the ltered sample
CD4+ T cells [4]. In the present observational retrospective and viability was checked by means of trypan blue exclusion.
study we observed a relation between statin use and frequency The ltered sample was centrifuged for 5 min at 5906g at
of an unusual Th1 subset of T lymphocytes, CD4 + CD28 48 C. The supernatant was aspirated and stored in Eppendorf
null, which is often expanded in unstable angina [5]. tubes at 808 C. The cell pellet was resuspended in uores-
We aimed in this study to assess anti inammatory effects cence-activated cell sorter (FACS) buffer (0.5% bovine serum
of statin in COPD patients. albumin in phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7.4 7.6)) to a con-
centration of 0.46106 cells mL 1 and cytospins preparations
Patients and methods were performed by putting 100 mL of the cell suspension in
the funnels and centrifuging for 5 min at 236g with low decel-
We studied 28 patients with chronic obstructive lung disease. eration. Two cytospin slides for differential cell counts were
Fourteen patients (11 male and 3 female) receiving statin due stained with May-GruEnwald Giemsa (MGG). Differential
to hyperlipidemia (9 patients received simvastatin and 5 pa- cell counts were performed by counting 300 non squamous
tients atorvastatin), and other 14 patients patients (11 male cells in each coded MGG cytospin preparation in a blinded
and 3 female) not hyperlipidemic. fashion by two technicians. The mean of both scores was used
for analysis. Absolute cell numbers per milliliter of sputum
All patients underwent all of the following were calculated by multiplying the cell percentage by the total
(non squamous) cell number in the sputum, divided by the vol-
1 Complete history and clinical examination. ume of the sputum sample in milliliters.
2 Routine investigations, CBC, LFT, RFT, lipid prole.
3 FEV1 pre and post bronchodilator. Spirometery technique [7]
4 Pulmonary function (spirometery) pre and at end of study.
5 Sputum induction before and at end of 10 months from sta- Subject preparation
tin starting and determination of leptin, total and differen- Activities that should preferably be avoided prior to lung func-
tial cell count pre and at end of study. tion testing:

Exclusion criteria 1 Smoking within at least 1 h of testing

2 Consuming alcohol within 4 h of testing
1 Any patients whose statin therapy had been interrupted 3 Performing vigorous exercise within 30 min of testing
2 who had a concomitant diagnosis of congestive heart 4 Wearing clothing that substantially restricts full chest and
failure abdominal expansion
3 radiographic evidence of pneumonia 5 Eating a large meal within 2 h of testing
4 Uncooperative patients.
5 Patients subjects on long-term oral corticosteroids Recommendation: vital capacity (VC) [8]
6 those with a FEV1, predicted, of <20% or a life expec-
tancy of <1 year. VC = The maximal volume of air exhaled from the point of
maximal inhalation or the maximal volume of air inhaled from
Sputum induction [6] a point of maximal exhalation can be measured with a slow
exhalation or inhalation, respectively. This was previously
Sputum was induced via inhalation of a hypertonic saline aero- called the slow vital capacity and has been better described
sol, generated by an ultrasonic nebulizer. Solutions of sodium as the relaxed vital capacity [13]. The VC is expressed in
chloride 5%, 6 ml divided to three 2 ml were nebulized at room liters (BTPS).
Anti inammatory effects of statin in COPD 67

Recommendation: forced vital capacity (FVC) [8] cell count in induced sputum and exacerbation 10 months be-
fore introduction of statin.
FVC = Maximal volume of air exhaled with maximally forced After 10 months from statin there is signicant decrease of
effort from a position of maximal inspiration, i.e., vital total cell count in statin group and also high signicance de-
capacity performed with a maximally forced expiratory effort, crease of sputum leptin, neutrophils and exacerbation in the
expressed in liters (BPS) Tables 15. statin group compared to control group.
Also signicant decrease of total cell count in statin group
Recommendation: timed forced expiratory volume (FE&) pre and at end of study, and high signicance decrease of lep-
tin, neutrophils and exacerbation of statin group pre introduc-
tion of statin and at end of study.
FEV = The volume of air exhaled in the specied time during
In control group there are no signicance changes in
the performance of the FVC, e.g., FEV, for the volume of air ex-
control group at start and at end of study.
haled during the rst second of FVC, expressed in liters (BTPS).
* There was signicant positive effects of spiriva on sputum
Data was analyzed using SPSS (Statistical Package for So-
leptin, and there were no signicant effects of BIPAP, oxygen,
cial Sciences) version 15. Qualitative data was presented as
ARB, ACE, ICS and spiriva on results of study.
number and percent. Comparison between groups was done
by Chi-Square test. Data was presented as mean SD. Paired
t-test was used for comparison within groups. Student t-test Discussion
was used to compare between two groups. P < 0.05 was con-
sidered to be statistically signicant.
Statins, inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl coenzyme A
reductase, are potent inhibitors of cholesterol biosynthesis and
Results have greatly improved the management of ischaemic heart
disease. Recent studies suggest that direct antithrombotic
There is no signicance differences between the two groups re- and anti-inammatory effects associated with treatment with
garded to age, pulmonary function, leptin, total, differential statins may at least partly account for the reduction of

Table 1 Statin and control groups before introduction of statin.

Statin (n = 14) Control (n = 14) P value
AGE 57.29 6.50 59.64 7.22 0.372
FEV1 pre 47.21 9.58 46.64 10.68 0.883
FEF25pre 59.86 6.13 57.71 10.00 0.500
FEF50pre 54.07 6.73 53.93 6.15 0.954
FEF75pre 36.50 6.44 37.14 5.93 0.786
lePtin pre (pg/ml) 181.29 49.02 182.07 47.85 0.966
1
TCC 106 cells mL 2.6 12.2 2.7 12.9 0.966
Squamous cells% 5 9.1 5.3 8.6 0.412
Neutro% pre 54.14 10.10 51.71 8.87 0.505
Macro% pre 38.43 8.74 38.21 8.57 0.948
Esino% pre 1.69 1.15 1.51 0.75 0.645
Lymph% pre 7.81 5.01 8.34 6.80 0.893
Exacerbation pre 5.57 1.45 5.50 1.51 0.899
Intubation pre 4 (28.6%) 3 (21.4%) 0.663

Table 2 Statin and control group at the end of study.

Statin (n = 14) Control (n = 14) P value
FEV1post 47.08 9.48 46.33 10.53 0.787
FEF25post 59.99 7.18 57.10 10.12 0.531
FEF50post 54.93 7.64 53.62 7.22 0.851
FEF75post 36.78 7.56 36.14 5.35 0.796
Leptin post (pg/mL) 87.00 16.19 176.29 45.46 0.000
TCC 106 cells mL 1 post 2.1 3.21 2.8 9.44 0.05
Squamous cells% 5.8 7.1 6.3 8.6 0.112
Neutro post 33.64 7.43 50.78 9.93 0.000
Macro post 35.96 11.7 37.11 8.86 0.866
Esino post 1.43 0.69 1.16 0.52 0.253
Lymph post 9.93 3.66 9.41 7.36 0.817
Exacerbation post 2.50 0.76 5.57 1.83 0.000
Intubation post 2 (14.3%) 5 (35.7%) 0.190
68 N.A. Rezk, A. Elewa

cardiovascular events. In particular, statins reduce high sensi-

Table 3 PFT, sputum leptin, total, differential cell count and
tive C reactive protein (hs-CRP), tumour necrosis factor a, and
exacerbation in statin group pre and post introduction of
metalloproteinase 9 production [3].
statin.
Evidence of the value of reducing inammation in COPD
Statin group Pre (n = 14) Post (n = 14) P value patients as a therapeutic maneuver has been provided by stud-
FEV1 47.21 9.58 47.08 9.48 0.981 ies demonstrating the efcacy of inhaled corticosteroids such
FEF25 59.86 6.13 59.99 7.18 0.910 as uticasone, [9] triamcinolone [10] and other agents of this
FEF50 54.07 6.73 54.93 7.64 0.942 class. However, the recently published TORCH trial [11] pro-
FEF75 36.50 6.44 36.78 7.56 0.996 vides data which question the efcacy of uticasone propio-
Leptin (pg/mL) 181.29 49.02 87.00 16.19 0.000 nate in preventing death and suggest a possible increase in
1
TCC 106 cells mL 2.6 12.2 2.1 3.21 0.05
the incidence of pneumonia in COPD patients.
Neutro 54.14 10.10 33.64 7.43 0.000
Within the last few years, it has been suggested that the
Macro 38.43 8.74 35.96 11.7 0.412
Esino 1.69 1.15 1.16 0.52 0.116 anti-inammatory properties of statins [12] may lead to their
Lymph 7.81 5.01 9.93 3.66 0.213 utility in the treatment of other diseases in which inammation
Exacerbation 5.57 1.45 2.50 0.76 0.000 plays a role in pathogenesis [13]. Might statins have a place in
Intubation 4 (28.6%) 2 (14.3%) 0.157 the treatment of COPD.
We aimed in this study to evaluate the role of statin in
reduction inammation and its effect on lung function and
exacerbation .
We studied 28 patients with chronic obstructive lung dis-
Table 4 PFT, total and differential cell count and exacerba- ease. Fourteen patients (11 male and 3 female) receiving statin
tion in control group pre and at end of study. due to hyperlipidemia, and other 14 patients patients (11 male
Control group Pre (n = 14) Post (n = 14) P value and 3 female) not hyperlipidemic .
FEV1 46.64 10.68 45.33 10.53 0.574 All patients were EX smokers
FEF25 57.71 10.00 56.10 10.12 0.440 There were no signicance between the two groups before
FEF50 53.93 6.15 53.62 7.22 0.933 the introduction of statin. after 10 months from the introduc-
FEF75 37.14 5.93 36.14 5.35 0.395 tion of statin, there were high signicant decrease of, neutro-
Leptin (pg/mL) 182.07 47.85 176.29 45.46 0.11 phils, sputum leptin and exacerbation and signicant decrease
1
TCC 106 cells mL 2.7 12.9 2.8 9.44 0.915 of total cell count in sputum when compared to control
Neutro 51.71 8.87 50.78 9.93 0.211 group and also when compared with statin group before
Macro 38.21 8.57 37.11 8.86 0.132 the introduction of statin, and this may explained by anti
Esino 1.51 0.75 1.16 0.52 0.243
inammatory effects of statin, and hypolipidemic effects of
Lymph 8.34 6.80 9.41 7.36 0.082
statin, this study agreed with retrospective study done by
Exacerbation 5.50 1.51 5.57 1.83 0.720
Intubation 3 (21.4%) 5 (35.7%) 0.414 [14] who studied 185 patients with COPD exacerbation, with
a 1-year follow-up, and found lower incidence of both

Table 5 Effects of various drugs and BIPAP in signicant results.

Statin group ve Eects +ve Eects P value
Leptin ICS (n = 5) 80.20 11.65 (n = 9) 90.78 17.69 0.257
NeutrophilICS 30.60 6.27 35.33 7.81 0.270
TCC 106 cells mL 1 4.7 11.9 4.8 9.44 0.912
Exacerbation ICS 2.00 0.71 2.78 0.67 0.063
Leptin spiriva (n = 5)72.60 10.31 (n = 9)95.00 13.08 0.007
Neutrophil spiriva 32.20 6.69 34.44 8.08 0.608
TCC 106 cells mL 1 4.3 11.9 4.5 9.44 0.815
Exacerbation spiriva 2.80 0.84 2.33 0.71 0.288
Leptin O2 (n = 11) 85.27 17.71 (n = 3) 93.33 7.64 0.467
Neutrophil O2 32.36 7.19 38.33 7.64 0.231
TCC 106 cells mL 1 4.7 16.7 4.8 15.41 0.915
Exacerbation O2 2.45 0.82 2.67 0.58 0.686
Leptin BIPAP (n = 11) 85.27 17.71 (n = 3) 93.33 7.64 0.467
Neutrophil BIPAP 32.36 7.19 38.33 7.64 0.231
TCC 106 cells mL 1 4.9 11.3 4.8 9.2 0.817
Exacerbation BIPAP 2.45 0.82 2.67 0.58 0.686
Leptin ARB (n = 10) 84.30 14.66 (n = 4) 93.75 20.14 0.344
Neutrophil ARB 35.30 8.08 29.50 3.32 0.082
TCC 106 cells mL 1 4.9 14.90 4.7 15.44 0.810
Exacerbation ARB 2.60 0.70 2.25 0.96 0.458
Leptin ACE (n = 9)82.56 18.23 (n = 5)95.00 7.91 0.177
Neutrophil ACE 33.44 7.47 34.00 8.22 0.900
TCC 106 cells mL 1 4.08 3.57 4.66 4.23 0.847
Exacerbation ACE 2.44 0.88 2.60 0.55 0.729
Anti inammatory effects of statin in COPD 69

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