Abstract
Glucocorticoids are the principal steroid hormones produced by the inner zones of the adrenal cortex. The natural glucocorticoids, present in amounts which vary according to species, are Cortisol and corticosterone. Corticosterone is generally about half as active as Cortisol. Dexamethasone, prednisolone, triamcinolone acetonide and certain other synthetic analogues of glucocorticoids which are widely used therapeutically and experimentally have some advantages over the natural hormones with regard to both activity and specificity. Dexamethasone, for example, is 10 to 100 times more active than Cortisol, has about 10 times higher affinity for glucocorticoid receptors, and is a ‘purer’ glucocorticoid in the sense that it cross-reacts much less with mineralocorticoid receptors. Cortisone and prednisone, once thought to be glucocorticoids, are now known to have no activity in themselves but to require conversion, respectively, to Cortisol and prednisolone (cf. Munck and Leung, 1977).
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Munck, A., Crabtree, G.R. (1981). Glucocorticoid-induced lymphocyte death. In: Bowen, I.D., Lockshin, R.A. (eds) Cell death in biology and pathology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6921-9_12
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