Medical uses
Prednisone is used for many different autoimmune diseases and inflammatory conditions, including asthma, gout, COPD, CIDP, rheumatic disorders, allergic disorders, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, adrenocortical insufficiency, hypercalcemia due to cancer, thyroiditis, laryngitis, severe tuberculosis, hives, lipid pneumonitis, pericarditis, multiple sclerosis, nephrotic syndrome, sarcoidosis, to relieve the effects of shingles, lupus, myasthenia gravis, poison oak exposure, Ménière's disease, autoimmune hepatitis, giant-cell arteritis, the Herxheimer reaction that is common during the treatment of syphilis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, uveitis, and as part of a drug regimen to prevent rejection after organ transplant.[10][11][12]
Prednisone has also been used in the treatment of migraine headaches and cluster headaches and for severe aphthous ulcer.[13] Prednisone is used as an antitumor drug.[14] It is important in the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, non-Hodgkin lymphomas, Hodgkin's lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and other hormone-sensitive tumors, in combination with other anticancer drugs.
Prednisone can be used in the treatment of decompensated heart failure to increase renal responsiveness to diuretics, especially in heart failure patients with refractory diuretic resistance with large dose of loop diuretics.[15][16][17][18][19][20] In terms of the mechanism of action for this purpose: prednisone, a glucocorticoid, can improve renal responsiveness to atrial natriuretic peptide by increasing the density of natriuretic peptide receptor type A in the renal inner medullary collecting duct, thereby inducing a potent diuresis.[21]
At high doses it may be used to prevent rejection following organ transplant.[2]
