ATC Group: S01C Antiinflammatory agents and antiinfectives in combination

Betamethasone is a glucocorticoid which is about eight to ten times as active as prednisolone on a weight-for-weight basis. Betamethasone has anti-inflammatory, antipruritic, and vasoconstrictive properties.

Dexamethasone is a synthetic glucocorticoid; it combines high anti-inflammatory effects with low mineralocorticoid activity. It has an approximately 7 times greater anti-inflammatory potency than prednisolone, another commonly prescribed corticosteroid. At high doses it reduces the immune response.

Fluorometholone is a synthetic corticosteroid (glucocorticoid), a derivative of desoxyprednisolone. It is a member of the group of universally known steroids used for the treatment of eye inflammation. Glucocorticosteroids bind to cytoplasmic receptors and control the synthesis of infection mediators thus damping inflammatory reactions (swelling, fibrin deposition, capillary dilatation, phagocyte migration) and also capillary proliferation, collagen deposition and scarring.

Hydrocortisone is the main glucocorticoid secreted by the adrenal cortex. Hydrocortisone is an anti-inflammatory steroid. Its anti-inflammatory action is due to reduction in the vascular component of the inflammatory response and reduction in the formation of inflammatory fluid and cellular exudates.

Prednisolone is a glucocorticoid which has anti-inflammatory activity. Naturally occurring glucocorticoids (hydrocortisone and cortisone), which also have salt-retaining properties, are used as replacement therapy in adrenocortical deficiency states. Their synthetic analogs are primarily used for their potent anti-inflammatory effects in disorders of many organ systems.