Long-term cloprednol use in chronic asthma.

Cloprednol is an oral synthetic glucocorticoid with a short serum half-life of 110 minutes. Twenty children who had chronic corticosteroid-dependent asthma were empaneled to study the effects of cloprednol for a period of 24 months. Three of these dropped out at the end of one year. Alternate-day doses of prednisone were replaced by equivalent daily 8 am doses of cloprednol. Ten of 17 patients had better control during cloprednol therapy than during previous prednisone regimens, and significant improvement was noted in peak expiratory flow rate during the study period (P less than .001). Long-term side effects were absent. Improvement in the degree of hypothalamopituitary adrenal axis responsiveness, based on fasting 8 am cortisol levels, was noted from baseline to the end of study period.