Enterohepatic circulation of prednisolone in rats.

In the present study human equivalent doses of the synthetic glucocorticoid, prednisolone, were administered intravenously into male rats. The prednisolone was rapidly cleared from blood and accumulated in the liver, from where it and metabolized prednisolone was excreted into the small intestine after a short time. By cannulation of the common bile duct with serial collection of bile it was shown that liver was able to handle relatively large doses of the steroid. There was good evidence of an enterohepatic circulation of steroid with relationships of time and content of prednisolone in liver and small intestine.