抄録
The recovery of the adrenocortical function was investigated after the long-term (1-3 years) administration of prednisolone in kidney transplant recipients. The adrenocortical function was estimated by measuring endogenous serum cortisol (F) levels by high-performance liquid chromatography. F levels promptly decreased to less than 10ng/ ml in a week after the administration of prednisolone (minimum static stage). Low level of F continued until 50-600 days after the transplantation, and then recovered thereafter (recovery stage). The mean F level recovered to 68% of the control (before the operation) at 800 days. However, the coefficient of variation between each patient was 85%. Moreover, no recovery was observed 800 days after the transplantation in one case.
These results suggest that the dosage adjustment of prednisolone at the recovery stage should be carried out by monitoring the adrenocortical function in each patient.
