Budesonide: a new corticosteroid in bronchial asthma.

The time course of response to budesonide in a dose of 1000 microgram administered by inhalation, 800 microgram given by the oral route, and 40 microgram prednisolone administered orally, has been investigated in 12 patients suffering from chronic bronchial asthma. Budesonide is an epimeric mixture of a non-halogenated glucocorticoid, 16 alpha, 17 alpha-(22R,S)-propylmethylenedioxypregna-1,4-diene-11 beta, 21-diol-3,20-dione. Inhaled budesonide and prednisolone produced a statistically significant increase in PEF 2 h after being administered. The peak effect appeared to occur between 6 and 7 h after budesonide inhalation and about 9 h following prednisolone. When given orally, budesonide failed to produce any substantial changes in PEF.