Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV) causes severe economic loss in the pig industry each year. To better understand the relationship between cytokines and PEDV replication, in this study, pro-inflammatory cytokine and chemokine expression profiles in Vero cells infected with PEDV were analyzed. Real-time quantitative PCR assay indicated that IL-1α, IL-1β, TNF-α, CCL2, CCL5 and CXCL8 expression levels were significantly upregulated. Moreover, overexpression and siRNA silencing assays showed that overexpression of IL-1α, IL-1β, TNF-α, CCL2, CCL5 and CXCL8 could significantly inhibit PEDV replication, while silencing of IL-1α, IL-1β, TNF-α, CCL2, CCL5 and CXCL8 could significantly promote PEDV replication. Finally, a dual-luciferase reporter assay showed that nsp4 contributed to the expression of IL-1α, IL-1β, TNF-α, CCL2, CCL5 and CXCL8 via the NF-κB pathway. Together, these data determined that PEDV nsp4 could upregulate pro-inflammatory cytokine and chemokine expression, inhibiting viral replication in vitro. These results provided novel insights for understanding the roles of cytokines in PEDV replication.