COPD is the third leading cause of death in the United States. No currently available treatment can meaningfully restore lung function that is lost in this disease. Emphysema is a major component of COPD and results when lung damage exceeds the ability of the lung to repair. Recent evidence indicates that the repair processes present in the normal lung are deficient in patients with emphysema and that this is due, in part, to suppression of repair by an inflammatory mediator: prostaglandin E (PGE). Currently available therapies can block PGE production, but whether this can be achieved in the lung in COPD is unknown. The PIE study will answer that question.