A universal recipe for the calculation of solvent-mediated potential (SMP) by a density functional (DF) approach is proposed. Parameter free version of a LTDFA is employed for the solvent hard core correlation and a BPGG bridge functional is modified for solute-solvent correlation. The resultant predictions for SMP and solvent-mediated force are in better agreement with simulation than that from a previous universal DF theory based on fundamental measure functional. Differences and relative merits of the present framework and a previous one compared with a potential distribution theory-based theory are discussed. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.