Topically applied prednisone and prednisolone in the treatment of selected dermatoses.

Abstract

Prednisone and prednisolone are synthetic analogues of cortisone and hydrocortisone, respectively, differing from the parent steroids only in that a double bond is present between carbon 1 and carbon 2 in the structural formula. When administered by mouth these newer compounds have proved therapeutically effective in doses approximately one-third to one-fifth that of the parent compound.1-6We, therefore, thought it indicated to test the local effectiveness of these compounds when applied externally in the treatment of selected dermatoses, and to compare the results with that of topically applied hydrocortisone, about which much information is already available.7-11 The method of symmetrical paired comparison was employed whenever possible.12 The new compounds used in this study were tested in two series. Series I consisted of the first lot of prednisone 0.5% and prednisolone 0.5% supplied to us by the manufacturers.*Hydrocortisone 1% served as a control. Each of