Title:Oral Beclomethasone Dipropionate: A Critical Review of its Use in the Management of Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s Disease
Volume: 7
Issue: 2
Author(s): Federica Fascì Spurio, Annalisa Aratari, Giovanna Margagnoni, Maria Teresa Doddato, Francesca Chiesara and Claudio Papi
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Beclomethasone dipropionate, corticosteroids, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis
Abstract: Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are inflammatory bowel diseases characterised by a chronic relapsing
course. Corticosteroids represent the mainstay of medical treatment of inflammatory bowel disease for the induction of
remission. Despite the high efficacy of systemic steroids, their use is limited by the high incidence of potentially serious
adverse effects. The topically acting steroids are synthetic compounds characterised by high anti-inflammatory activity
and low systemic effects by virtue of efficient first-pass hepatic inactivation. Budesonide and Beclomethasone
Dipropionate are the two most studied topically acting steroids in inflammatory bowel disease. Oral Budesonide has been
extensively studied in the treatment of mild to moderate ileo-caecal Crohn’s disease but few data are available concerning
oral Beclomethasone Dipropionate. This review focuses on the available evidence of efficacy and safety of oral
Beclomethasone Dipropionate in the management of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease and a possible role of this
steroid in clinical practice is suggested.
