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. 1986 Feb;21(2):183–189. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2125.1986.tb05173.x

The dose-dependent systemic availability of prednisone: one reason for the reduced biological effect of alternate-day prednisone.

F J Frey, M K Rüegsegger, B M Frey
PMCID: PMC1400906  PMID: 3954934

Abstract

An analysis of the literature was performed, revealing that in many studies both the desired and the undesired effects are decreased in alternate-day prednisone regimens as compared with the daily regimens. In the present report evidence is given that part of the diminished biological effect of dose-spacing regimens is attributable to a decreased total exposure to prednisolone. Following a high dose of 0.8 mg kg-1 of oral prednisone or prednisolone the plasma concentration vs time curves of total prednisolone, unbound prednisolone and prednisolone bound to albumin or transcortin were always less than four times higher than following a low dose of 0.2 mg kg-1 of prednisone or prednisolone. This dose-dependent systemic availability of prednisolone explains partly the diminished biological effect when the same total amount of prednisone or prednisolone is divided into several small doses as opposed to a single oral dose.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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