OBJECTIVE To compare the effects of stress dose hydrocortisone therapy with placebo on survival without neurodevelopmental impairments in high-risk preterm infants. STUDY DESIGN We recruited 64 extremely low birth weight (birth weight ≤1000 g) infants between the ages of 10 and 21 postnatal days who were ventilator-dependent and at high-risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Infants were random...

In the absence of exogenous glucocorticoids, decreasing media pH (from 7.4 to 6.8) for 24 hours increased the Na+/H+ exchanger 3 (NHE3) activity in opossum kidney (OKP) cells. 10(-7) M and 10(-8) M hydrocortisone increased NHE3 activity, and in their presence, acid incubation further increased NHE3 activity. Hydrocortisone (10(-9) M) had no effect on NHE3 activity, but in its presence, the effe...

To elucidate mechanisms underlying the prolonged monocytopenia induced in the peripheral blood of mice by injection of a subcutaneous depot of hydrocortisone acetate, the effect of this compound on the production of monocytes and their release from the bone marrow was studied. Hydrocortisone was found to cause a rapid reduction of the bone marrow promonocytes to about 65% of their initial numbe...

In the present study, we examined the acute influence of hydrocortisone on human sympathetic nerve activity and cardiovascular parameters. Muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSA), heart rate, and blood pressure were monitored in 8 healthy subjects (20 to 37 years old) before and after a bolus injection of 50 mg hydrocortisone followed by a continuous infusion at 50 mg/h during a period of 3 hou...

BACKGROUND Infants developing bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) show decreased cortisol response to adrenocorticotropic hormone. A pilot study of low-dose hydrocortisone therapy for prophylaxis of early adrenal insufficiency showed improved survival without BPD at 36 weeks' postmenstrual age, particularly in infants exposed to histologic chorioamnionitis. METHODS Mechanically ventilated infant...

OBJECTIVES Low cardiac output syndrome is common after paediatric cardiac surgery. Previous studies suggested that hydrocortisone administration may improve haemodynamic stability in case of resistant low cardiac output syndrome in critically ill children. This study was set up to test the hypothesis that the effects of hydrocortisone on haemodynamics in children with low cardiac output syndrom...

1 The concept that nitric oxide (NO) release can be beneficial in inflammatory conditions has raised more attention in the recent years, particularly with the development of nitric oxide-releasing anti-inflammatory drugs. There is considerable evidence that NO is capable of enhancing the anti-inflammatory benefits of conventional anti-inflammatory drugs. 2 Since hydrocortisone is the most widel...

Cayton, R. M., and Howard, P. (1973). Thorax, 28, 567-573. Plasma cortisol and the use of hydrocortisone in the treatment of status asthmaticus. Plasma cortisol, intravenous synacthen tests of adrenal function, arterial blood gases, and spirometric tests of respiratory function were measured in patients with bronchial asthma during clinically stable periods and during status asthmaticus. Intrav...

BACKGROUND Exposure to intense physical and psychological stress during septic shock can result in posttraumatic stress disorder in survivors. Patients with chronic posttraumatic stress disorder often show sustained reductions in serum cortisol concentration. This investigation examines whether increasing serum cortisol levels with hydrocortisone treatment during septic shock reduces the incide...

Administration of hydrocortisone or cortisone to rats has been shown to produce a marked increase in hepatic tryptophan pyrrolase (1, 2) and tyrosine-cY-ketoglutarate transaminase’ (4, 5) activities. Although present evidence suggests that the rise in tryptophan pyrrolase activity involves the synthesis of new protein (6) and the rise in tyrosine transaminase activity may not (7), the mechanism...