The circadian rhythm of corticosteroid-binding globulin has little impact on cortisol exposure after hydrocortisone dosing.

Context: Optimization of hydrocortisone replacement therapy is important to prevent under- and over dosing. Hydrocortisone pharmacokinetics is complex as circulating cortisol is protein bound mainly to corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG) that has a circadian rhythm.

Objective: A detailed analysis of the CBG circadian rhythm and its impact on cortisol exposure after hydrocortisone administration.

Design And Methods: CBG was measured over 24 hours in 14 healthy individuals and, employing a modelling and simulation approach using a semi-mechanistic hydrocortisone pharmacokinetic model, we evaluated the impact on cortisol exposure (area under concentration-time curve and maximum concentration of total cortisol) of hydrocortisone administration at different clock times and of the changing CBG concentrations.

Results: The circadian rhythm of CBG was well described with two cosine terms added to the baseline of CBG: baseline CBG was 21.8 µg/mL and interindividual variability 11.9%; the amplitude for the 24 and 12 hours cosine functions were relatively small (24 hours: 5.53%, 12 hours: 2.87%) and highest and lowest CBG were measured at 18:00 and 02:00, respectively. In simulations, the lowest cortisol exposure was observed after administration of hydrocortisone at 23:00-02:00, whereas the highest was observed at 15:00-18:00. The differences between the highest and lowest exposure were minor (≤12.2%), also regarding the free cortisol concentration and free fraction (≤11.7%).

Conclusions: Corticosteroid-binding globulin has a circadian rhythm but the difference in cortisol exposure is ≤12.2% between times of highest and lowest CBG concentrations; therefore, hydrocortisone dose adjustment based on time of dosing to adjust for the CBG concentrations is unlikely to be of clinical benefit.