Pharmacokinetics and protein binding of prednisolone after oral and intravenous administration

Abstract

The pharmacokinetics of prednisolone after oral and intravenous administration of 10 and 20 mg have been studied. Serum protein binding of prednisolone was also measured after the i.v. injections. The bioavailability after oral administration was 84.5% after 10 mg and 77.6% after 20 mg (p>0.05). Dose dependent pharmacokinetics were found, the VD_ss and Cl_t being significantly larger (p<0.01) after 20 mg i.v. than after 10 mg i.v. The protein binding of prednisolone in all subjects was non-linear, and is the most likely cause of the dose dependent pharmacokinetics, as there was no dose dependent variation in elimination half-time.