Summary
The pharmacokinetics of the glucocorticoid budesonide was studied in 6 children with asthma after i.v. injection of 0.5 mg and oral inhalation of 1 mg as an aerosol. Budesonide is a 1:1 mixture of the epimers 22 S and 22 R, which were assayed separately by HPLC combined with RIA. All pharmacokinetic parameters of the epimers differed except the half-life of about 1.5 h. It was significantly shorter than that reported in adults. Plasma clearance averaged 103 l · h−1 for epimer 22 R and 74 l · h−1 for epimer 22 S; calculated per kg body weight these values were about 50% higher than in adults. The difference was about 40% when calculated per m2 of body surface area. Since budesonide is a high-clearance drug, the data indicate higher liver blood flow · kg−1 body weight and m2 of body surface area in children. The systemic availability of the aerosol was approximately 30% of nominal dose, i.e. the same as in adults. The high clearance and short half-life of budesonide in children are advantageous in reducing the risk of possible systemic side-effects of prophylactic treatment of asthma in childhood.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andersson P, Brattsand R, Edsbäcker S, Källström L, Ryrfeldt Å (1982a) Biotransformation rate (in vitro) and systemic potency (in vivo) of the topical glucocorticoid budesonide in male and female rats. J Steroid Biochem 17: 703–706
Andersson P, Edsbäcker S, Ryrfeldt Å, von Bahr C (1982b) In vitro biotransformation of glucocorticoids in liver and skin homogenate fraction from man, rat and hairless mouse. J Steroid Biochem 16: 787–795
Dahlberg E, Thalén A, Brattsand R, Gustafsson JÅ, Johansson U, Roempke K, Saartok T (1984) Correlation between chemical structure, receptor binding and biochemical activity of some novel, high active 16 α, 17 α-acetalsubstituted glucocorticoids. Mol Pharmacol 25: 70–78
Du Bois D, Du Bois EF (1916) Clinical calorimetry X. A formula to estimate the approximate surface if height and weight be known. Arch Intern Med 17: 863
Hamilton RA, Garnett WR, Kline BJ (1981) Determination of mean valproic acid serum level by assay of single pooled sample. Clin Pharmacol Ther 29: 408–413
Mihaly GW, Moore RG, Thomas J et al. (1978) The pharmacokinetics and metabolism of the anilide local anaestetics in neonates. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 13: 143–152
Newman SP (1983) Deposition and effects of inhalation aerosols. Rahms Tryckeri, Lund, Sweden
Rane A (1980) Basic principals of drug disposition and action in infants and children. In: Yaffe SJ (ed) Pediatric pharmacology. Grune and Stratton, Philadelphia
Ryrfeldt Å, Andersson P, Edsbäcker S, Tönnesson M, Davies DS, Pauwels R (1982) Pharmacokinetics and metabolism of budesonide, a selective glucocorticoid. Eur J Respir Dis 63 [Suppl 122]: 86–95
Ryrfeldt Å, Edsbäcker S, Pauwels R (1984) Kinetics of the epimeric glucocorticoid budesonide. Clin Pharmacol Ther 35: 525–530
Thalén A, Brattsand R (1979) Synthesis and anti-inflammatory properties of budesonide, a new non-halogenated glucocorticoid with high local activity. Arzneimittelforsch/Drug Res 29: 1687–1690
Aherne GW, Littleton P, Thalén A, Marks V (1982) A sensitive radioimmunoassay for budesonide in plasma. J Steroid Biochem 17: 559–565
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pedersen, S., Steffensen, G., Ekman, I. et al. Pharmacokinetics of budesonide in children with asthma. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 31, 579–582 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00606634
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00606634