Distinct actions of prednisolone and dexamethasone towards osteocalcin and eosinophilic cationic protein in assumed clinically equivalent doses: a study in healthy men

To study the effects of prednisolone (PRED) and dexamethasone (DEXA) in assumed clinically equivalent doses towards the lowering of cortisol, osteocalcin (OC) and the stimulated rise of eosinophilic cationic protein (ECP) by granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF). At four separate sessions of 25 h each, saline i.v. alone, G-CSF s.c. alone or in combination with either 12.5 mg PRED i.v. or 2.0 mg DEXA i.v., were randomly administered in eight healthy male subjects. All subjects had equal lowering of cortisol after DEXA and PRED at 10 h, whereas a sustained suppression at 25 h persisted only after administration of DEXA. Between 4 h and 10 h after administration of DEXA and PRED, the change in the area under the concentration-time curve (DeltaAUC4-10) of OC became 24.4% and 2.3% lower, respectively ( p