Pharmacology » Rational prescribing

Glucocorticoids: long term treatment

In pharmacologic doses, glucocorticoids are used to suppress various allergic, inflammatory and autoimmune disorders. They are also used as post-transplantation immunosuppressants to prevent the acute transplant rejection. Commonly used drugs are prednisolone, dexamethasone, methylprednisolone and cortisol (hydrocortisone). Glucocorticoids suppress both the cell-mediated and humoral immunity. They diminishes both B cell clone expansion and antibody synthesis. Glucocorticoids influence all types of inflammatory events, no matter what their cause. The cyclooxygenase (both COX-1 and COX-2) expression is also suppressed, potentiating the effect. In other words, the two main products in inflammation Prostaglandins and Leukotrienes are inhibited by the action of Glucocorticoids.

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