Plasma prednisolone levels during intravenous therapy in acute colitis.

Maximum plasma levels in six acute colitics were about three times greater after an intravenous bolus of 20 mg prednisolone than the mean level achieved during infusion of the same dose (p<0.001) over eight hours; the level during infusion was about twice as great as the maximum recorded previously after a single 40 mg oral dose of prednisolone. These findings favour the use of intravenous administration in severe acute colitis. No difference was found between plasma levels of patients and six normal subjects after the intravenous bolus.