Review of glucocorticoid pharmacology.

Rational glucocorticoid therapy depends on a complicated interplay of many factors. An understanding of the physiology of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, the comparative potencies, duration, and adverse effects of the available corticosteroid bases and their esters, and especially the specific goals of the therapy for a wide variety of diseases facilitates this therapy. It is impossible to make specific dose recommendations for glucocorticoid therapy. Individual patients and their various diseases respond differently to a given dose of glucocorticoid.