Effect of orally administered hydrocortisone on intraocular pressure in nonglaucomatous dogs

Objective: To determine the effect of oral hydrocortisone on intraocular pressure (IOP) in ocular normotensive dogs. Animals studied: Seventeen ocular normotensive dogs. Procedures: Dogs were randomly assigned to treatment (n = 9) and control (n = 8) groups. Dogs in the treatment group received hydrocortisone, 3.3 mg/kg PO every 8 h, and dogs in the control group received gelatin capsule placebo PO every 8 h for 5 weeks. Applanation tonometry was performed on both eyes of all dogs prior to treatment and then once weekly for 5 weeks during hydrocortisone treatment. Results: No significant effect of treatment was noted for right (P = 0.1013) or left (P = 0.1157) eyes during the treatment period, nor was there significant interaction of treatment by week for the right (P = 0.9456) or left (P = 0.3577) eyes. A significant rise in IOP over the treatment period was noted in both right (P < 0.0001) and left (P = 0.0006) eyes of both groups, but was unrelated to treatment. Conclusion: Orally administered hydrocortisone does not significantly increase IOP in nonglaucomatous dogs when administered over a 5-week period.