Comparative Anti-Inflammatory Efficacy of Topically Applied Steroids on Human Skin

Abstract

1. A reliable assay procedure has been presented for rapidly quantitating the anti-inflammatory potency of steroids on human skin. 2. Estimated steroid potency values can be used to predict reliably the proper steroid concentration to be studied in topical clinical trials. 3. Data have been adapted to the Stetten theory which concerns relationship of hormone dosage to physiological response. This permitted comparison of steroids with respect to capacity of target organ to bind hormone and affinity of hormone for binding sites. 4. The target organ has increased capacity to bind fluorometholone relative to hydrocortisone. This means that some optimum concentration of fluorometholone is capable of producing a greater anti-inflammatory response than that possible even with very high doses of hydrocortisone. 5. That fluorometholone is approximately 40 times as potent as hydrocortisone topically yet only about equal to hydrocortisone in systemic activity suggests that fluorometholone is a unique compound for topical anti-inflammatory therapy, since even if absorption from the skin occurred, the systemic effect would be negligible.