Pulmonary disposition of cortisol.
High-dose corticosteroid therapy is used in various lung diseases, yet it is not known if the drug enters the alveolar acinus. Cortisol levels, expressed as a function of albumin concentration, were measured in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in 12 patients with lung disease. There was a linear relation of cortisol concentration between blood level and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid level when expressed in relation to the albumin concentration (r = 0.93, p less than 0.001). Incremental doses of intravenous hydrocortisone reach alveolar structures in a concentration directly related to the circulating blood levels.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001980:Bronchi; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism*; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011650:Pulmonary Alveoli; D007507:Therapeutic Irrigation
D006854:Hydrocortisone