Test Predicting Adrenal Insufficiency in Volunteers Under Prednisone Treatment

Dexamethasone-suppression-test Predicts Later Development of Adrenal Insufficiency After a 14 Days' Course of Prednisone in Healthy Volunteers

Suppression of the adrenal function is a common, potentially dangerous and unpredictable consequence of short term high dose glucocorticoid treatment. Identification of patients at risk would be of high clinical importance. The investigators hypothesized that the dexamethasone-suppression-test predicts the subsequent development of corticosteroid induced adrenal insufficiency.

The objective of this study is to evaluate if adrenal axis integrity investigated by the dexamethasone-suppression-test will predict the development of adrenal insufficiency after 14 days treatment with 0.5mg/kg of body weight prednisone in healthy volunteers. The investigators hypothesize that subjects with a more suppressed cortisol level after dexamethasone will be more likely to develop adrenal insufficiency after 14 days intake of prednisone o.5mg/kg/body weight than subjects with less suppression of their cortisol levels after dexamethasone.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Healthy male volunteers over 18 years

Exclusion Criteria:

• No informed consent
• Intake of any kind of medication
• BMI over 30kg/m2
• Acute or chronic illnesses