Influence of hydrocortisone on the analgesic effect, toxicity and metabolism of aspirin in mice

1. Hydrocortisone (HC; 80 mg/kg body weight, intraperitoneally for 4 days), both alone and in combination with acetylsalicylic acid (ASA; 160 mg/kg body weight, orally, for 4 days), decreased ASA general and specific toxicity via metabolic modulation of drug-metabolizing enzyme sys tems (intestinal ASA esterase and hepatic UDP-glucuronyltransferase) and did not change the ASA analgesic effect. 2. ASA alone, given 4 for days, did not change the specific ASA toxicity, but increased its general acute toxicity, which was probably due to alterations in some intestinal and hepatic metabolizing enzyme systems. Copyright (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Inc.