Intra-individual consistency of prednisolone kinetics during long-term prednisone treatment.

Eleven patients on long-term prednisone treatment were studied on two occasions separated by 45 to 325 days. In 10 patients the total body clearance of prednisolone only changed about 10%. In one case a 78.5% decrease was observed after stopping treatment with rifampicin and isoniazide. No association was found between the prednisone dose rate (mg/kg per month), patient age or mean endogenous plasma hydrocortisone level and prednisolone clearance/kg. The results indicate considerable intra-individual consistency of prednisolone kinetics if other conditions are not changed.