Objective To detect plasma levels of Nod-like receptor protein 3 (NLRP3), interleukin-1β (IL- 1β) and interleukin-18 (IL-18) in the patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and investigate their clinical significance. Methods In this study 50 cases with acute exacerbation phase of COPD were selected into the acute exacerbation group, 49 cases with stable phase of COPD into the stable group, and 40 people having healthy physical examination in the Health Examination Center of our hospital at the same time were chosen as the control group. Plasma levels of NLRP3, IL-1β and IL-18 in the three groups were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Lung function was measured by pulmonary function indexes (PEF%, FEV1%, V25%, V50% and V75%). The correlations of plasma level of NLRP3 with lung function, plasma levels of IL-1β and IL-18 were analyzed by Pearson correlation analysis. Results There were significant differences in the plasma levels of NLRP3, IL-1β and IL-18 among the three groups (P < 0.05), and between the stable group and the acute exacerbation group (P < 0.05). There were significant differences in PEF%, FEV1%, V25%, V50% and V75% among the three groups (P < 0.05), and between the acute exacerbation group and the stable group (P < 0.05). The plasma level of NLRP3 in the patients with COPD was negatively correlated with PEF%, FEV1%, V25%, V50% and V75%, but positively correlated with plasma levels of IL-1β and IL-18. Conclusions Plasma level of NLRP3 in the patients of COPD is obviously increased, and correlated with lung function and plasma levels of IL-1β and IL-18. NLRP3 may be one of the effective indicators for evaluation of the condition of COPD.