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Objectives: To investigate the effect of low-dose hydrocortisone on time to shock reversal, the cytokine profile, and its relation to adrenal function in patients with early septic shock., Design: Prospective, randomized, double-blind, single-center study., Setting: Medical intensive care unit of a university hospital., Patients: Forty-one consecutive patients with early hyperdynamic septic shock., Interventions: After inclusion and a short adrenocorticotropic hormone test, all patients were randomized to receive either low-dose hydrocortisone (50-mg bolus followed by a continuous infusion of 0.18 mg/kg body of weight/hr) or matching placebo. After shock reversal, the dose was reduced to 0.06 mg/kg/hr and afterward slowly tapered. Severity of illness was estimated using Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II score and Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score., Measurements and Main Results: Time to cessation of vasopressor support (primary end point) was significantly shorter in hydrocortisone-treated patients compared with placebo (53 hrs vs. 120 hrs, p < .02). This effect was more profound in patients with impaired adrenal reserve. Irrespective of endogenous steroid production, cytokine production was reduced in the treatment group with lower plasma levels of interleukin-6 and a diminished ex vivo lipopolysaccharide-stimulated interleukin-1 and interleukin-6 production. Interleukin-10 levels were unaltered. Adverse events were not more frequent in the treatment group., Conclusions: Treatment with low-dose hydrocortisone accelerates shock reversal in early hyperdynamic septic shock. This was accompanied by reduced production of proinflammatory cytokines, suggesting both hemodynamic and immunomodulatory effects of steroid treatment. Hemodynamic improvement seemed to be related to endogenous cortisol levels, whereas immune effects appeared to be independent of adrenal reserve.

Objectives: To compare cortisol levels during "low-dose" hydrocortisone therapy to basal and ACTH-stimulated endogenous levels and to assess whether clinical course and the need for catecholamines depend on cortisol levels and/or pretreatment adrenocortical responsiveness., Design and Setting: Prospective observational study in a medical ICU of a university hospital., Patients: Twenty consecutive patients with septic shock and a cardiac index of 3.5 l/min or higher, started on "low-dose" hydrocortisone therapy (100 mg bolus, 10 mg/h for 7 days and subsequent tapering) within 72 h of the onset of shock., Measurements and Results: Basal total and free plasma cortisol levels ranged from 203 to 2169 and from 17 to 372 nmol/l. In 11 patients cortisol production was considered "inadequate" because there was neither a response to ACTH of at least 200 nmol/l nor a baseline level of at least 1000 nmol/l. Following the initiation of hydrocortisone therapy total and free cortisol levels increased 4.2- and 8.5-fold to median levels of 3,587 (interquartile range 2,679-5,220) and 1,210 (interquartile range 750-1,846) nmol/l on day 1, and thereafter declined to median levels of 1,310 nmol/l and 345 nmol/l on day 7. Patients with "inadequate" steroid production could be weaned from vasopressor therapy significantly faster, although their plasma free cortisol concentrations during the hydrocortisone treatment period did not differ., Conclusions: (a) During proposed regimens of "low-dose" hydrocortisone therapy, initially achieved plasma cortisol concentrations considerably exceed basal and ACTH stimulated levels. (b) Cortisol concentrations decline subsequently, despite continuous application of a constant dose. (c) "Inadequate" endogenous steroid production appears to sensitize patients to the hemodynamic effects of a "therapeutic rise" in plasma cortisol levels.