Calcium complexation by corticosteroids.

Cortisone and hydrocortisone form calcium complexes of 2:1 steroid/Ca(2+) stoichiometry in solution, with formation constants of 201 +/- 1.7 and 184 +/- 1.7 M(-2), respectively-roughly half the value seen for a simple aromatic alpha-hydroxy ketone, phenacyl alcohol (341 +/- 10.