We regard the problem of differentiation occurring in the retrieval of aerosol extinction coefficient profiles from inelastic Raman lidar signals by searching for a stable solution of the resulting Volterra integral equation. An algorithm based on a projection method and iterative regularization together with the L-curve method has been performed on synthetic and measured lidar signals. A strategy to choose a suitable range for the integration within the framework of the retrieval of optical properties is proposed here for the first time to our knowledge. The Monte Carlo procedure has been adapted to treat the uncertainty in the retrieval of extinction coefficients.