GLUCOCORTICOIDS AND LYMPHOCYTES .3. EFFECTS OF GLUCOCORTICOID ADMINISTRATION ON LYMPHOCYTE GLUCOCORTICOID RECEPTORS

  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 61  (6) , 1086-1090
Abstract
To determine the effects of glucocorticoid administration on the number of measured lymphocyte glucocorticoid receptor sites and the duration of such effects, 7 normal volunteers were studied. Glucocorticoid receptor levels of the lymphocytes circulating in the blood of each volunteer were determined. Glucocorticoid was then administered in a regimen of a total of 4 doses of dexamethasone 4 mg p.o. [orally] every 6 h. Determinations of the number of receptors were performed at 6 h and at various subsequent times after the end of dexamethasone administration. When compared to baseline receptor numbers, 6 volunteers showed a decrease in receptor number after glucocorticoid administration (median maximum decrease 2046 sites/cell). The fall in receptor number occurred rapidly, reaching a nadir within 30 h from the end of glucocorticoid administration. The return of receptor number to baseline was more gradual, requiring from 3 to as long as 17 days in one subject. In order to accurately interpret glucocorticoid receptor numbers in human lymphoid cells, glucocorticoid should not have been administered for 3 wk prior to determinations of receptor levels.