Six patients with rheumatic disease involving vasculitis (juvenile dermatomyositis, scleroderma, or overlap syndrome), four females, two males (mean age 17.8 years [range 11–27]; one Hispanic, one Asian, one African American, three Caucasian) were admitted to an IRB-approved Clinical Research Center protocol. After fasting overnight, they received 50 mg/m2 OP on day 1, and 50 mg/m2 IVMP on day 2. Baseline blood samples were drawn 1 min prior to each corticosteroid dose (neopterin and vWFAg on day 1; prednisolone level on day 2), at 5, 15, 30, 45, 60, and 90 min and then hourly from the second through the eighth hour. After extraction, samples were analyzed by reverse-phase HPLC for the levels of prednisolone (day 1 samples) and methylprednisolone (day 2 samples). The area under the serum OP or IVMP concentration versus time curve (AUC) was determined using the trapezoid method. NFC images were evaluated by freeze-frame video microscopy as previously described.