CRP and alkaline phosphatase measurement: Regarding the effect of corticosteroids on circulating CRP levels, one rodent study [44] found that hydrocortisone or prednisolone administered 1 h after induction of experimental AP resulted in slight but statistically significant decreases in CRP levels (16.8 ± 1.4 and 19.2 ± 1.6 mg/dL, respectively) compared with the no-steroid treatment (25.6 ± 1.7 mg/dL, P < 0.05), while the same treatment administered 3 h later did not have these effects (24.3 ± 1.6 and 24.8 ± 1.8 mg/dL, respectively, Table 1).