Entry of Prednisone into Human Milk

To the Editor: This letter is prompted by a recent inquiry from a colleague concerning the level of prednisone that might be expected to enter human milk in a breast-feeding woman who was being given a short course of that steroid for an intercurrent illness. We had had occasion in February, 1974, to make such a measurement in a similar patient given prednisone for recurrent iridocyclitis. Milk was obtained by breast pump 120 minutes after 10 mg of prednisone given by mouth; this interval was chosen because peak plasma steroid levels occur 120 minutes after prednisone administration.¹ Steroids were extracted. No extract is available for articles shorter than 400 words.