INCREASED SERUM HUMAN GRANULOCYTE-COLONY-STIMULATING FACTOR (C-CSF) LEVELS FOLLOWING INTRAVENOUS-INFUSION OF HIGH-DOSE METHYLPREDNISOLONE

Serum granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) levels were measur ed for 24 h in 6 patients with hematological disorders and two patient s with Graves' disease associated with malignant exophthalmos after iv infusion of high-dose methylprednisolone (HDMP) (20 mg/kg BW) for 2 h starting at 0900 h. Saline solution (500 ml) was infused iv for 2 h a s a control on two days before starting the HDMP therapy. Serum G-CSF levels increased with the mean peak values at 4 h after the HDMP thera py (mean +/- SD: 488.1 +/- 125.8 pg/ml vs. saline control 74.4 +/- 21. 9 pg/ml, P<0.01). Circulating absolute neutrophil counts (ANC) also in creased with the mean peak values at 24 h after the HDMP (6,057 +/- 1, 460/mu l vs. saline control 2,007 +/- 390/mu l, P<0.025). These findin gs indicate that glucocorticoid has a stimulating effect on G-CSF rele ase and that the increased G-CSF release could be involved, at least p artly, in neutrophilia induced by glucocorticoid.