Effect of intra-articular glucocorticoids on the disposition of sulphadimidine in chronic osteoarthritis patients.

1. The disposition of sulphadimidine (15 mg kg-1 orally) was investigated in six chronic osteoarthritis patients (four slow and two fast acetylators) prior to and 4 days following intra-articular administration of glucocorticoids. 2. The mean (+/- s.e. mean) renal clearance of sulphadimidine was increased from 0.03 +/- 0.01 to 0.07 +/- 0.02 ml min-1 kg-1 (P = 0.01) following the administration of intra-articular steroid. 3. Mean metabolic clearance and volume of distribution data were similar on the two study days. However, two of the slow acetylators showed marked increases (63% and 193%) in metabolic clearance following steroid treatment.