Objective To study the effect of secreted frizzled-related protein 1 (SFRP1) on airway remodeling in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods Forty-five patients with stable COPD and 21 healthy controls were collected in Jiangsu Province Hospital from June 2014 to June 2016. The level of SFRP1 in serum was detected by ELISA. The expression of SFRP1, E-cadherin and α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA) in human bronchial epithelial cells (16HBEs) were detected by Western blot. Results The level of SFRP1 in serum of the COPD patients was significantly higher than that in the healthy controls [(80.65 ± 15.01) pg/ml vs. (23.89 ± 2.59) pg/ml, P<0.05]. There were negative correlations between serum SFRP1 levels and lung function parameters (FEV 1, FEV 1%pred, and FVC) in the COPD patients (correlation coefficient r value were –0.368 9, –0.382 6 and –0.417 3, respectively, all P<0.05). The level of serum SFRP1 in the COPD smokers was significantly higher than that in the COPD non-smokers [(97.74 ± 21.95) pg/mlvs. (52.51 ± 14.87) pg/ml, P<0.05]. The expression of SFRP1 could be up-regulated by cigarette smoke extract in 16HBEs. The expression of E-cadherin of 16HBEs was up-regulated by recombinant SFRP1, but the expression of α-SMA of 16HBEs was down-regulated by recombinant SFRP1. Conclusion SFRP1 may be involved in the pathogenesis of airway remodeling of COPD by regulating the expression of E-cadherin and α-SMA of bronchial epithelial cells.