Interaction of salicylate and corticosteroids in man

Corticosteroids have been reported to decrease the plasma concentrations of salicylate when salicylates have been administered chronically at high doses. In the present study, two single, oral doses of sodium salicylate, 10 mg kg-1 were administered to six adult subjects with a variety of inflammatory conditions both before and during treatment with daily oral doses of prednisone (12-60 mg). Concomitant prednisone therapy did not increase the whole body clearance of single doses of salicylate in these subjects (0.0275 +/- 0.08 l kg-1 h-1 before prednisone; 0.0247 +/- 0.03 l kg-1 h-1 during prednisone therapy; P greater than 0.05). These results indicate that corticosteroids do not alter the clearance of single doses of salicylate in man.