Diprolene
Epidermal cytokeratin and immunocyte responses during treatment of psoriasis with calcipotriol and betamethasone valerate.

Berth-Jones J, Fletcher A, Hutchinson PE.

Department of Dermatology, Leicester Royal Infirmary, U.K.

Changes in epidermal immunocytes and cytokeratins were investigated during treatment of psoriasis with calcipotriol and betamethasone valerate. Skin biopsies were obtained from 10 subjects on each treatment from lesional and non-lesional skin at baseline, and from treated lesions after 4 weeks. In each subject, changes in expression of cytokeratins K5, K10 and K16, and changes in epidermal immunocyte counts were assessed. Responses were compared with a separate histological parameter of improvement, epidermal thickness. Both treatments produced a marked normalization of cytokeratins. The reduction of K16 expression was similar on each treatment and correlated significantly with reduction in epidermal thickness. Expression of both K5 and K10 improved less than thickness with betamethasone valerate but more than thickness with calcipotriol, although these differences did not reach statistical significance. With calcipotriol there was an increase in K5 and K10 responses with increasing response of epidermal thickness, which was not seen with betamethasone valerate. T6+ cells, HLA-DR+ dendritic cells and T lymphocytes were all reduced by betamethasone valerate. There was a remarkable similarity in the level of normalization between cell types and also between cellular response and reduction in thickness. Calcipotriol produced a similar consistent reduction in cell numbers and in thickness, with the exception of T6+ cells which increased in some subjects during treatment. Only in subjects in whom thickness had virtually returned to normal was there a marked decrease in T6+ cells.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1373949&dopt=Abstract betamethasone Diprolene AF



Diprolene
Mucosal damage during intestinal anaphylaxis in the rat. Effect of betamethasone and disodium cromoglycate.

D'Inca R, Hunt RH, Perdue MH.

Department of Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

In this study, two antiallergic compounds, betamethasone and disodium cromoglycate were tested in an animal model of intestinal anaphylaxis. Rats, immunized with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis, were challenged intravenously with whole worm antigen or saline. Antigen challenge resulted in significant abnormalities: epithelial damage with shorter villi, decreased activity of digestive enzymes, decreased levels of mucosal histamine, a mast cell mediator, and increased blood uptake of [51Cr]EDTA from the lumen. Low-dose betamethasone, 24 and 48 hr before antigen, was not effective in preventing the effects: villus damage and increased [51Cr]EDTA uptake were seen, although mucosal mast cell numbers were significantly reduced by the drug. High-dose betamethasone completely prevented intestinal anaphylaxis: villus height, digestive function, and [51Cr]EDTA recovery in antigen-challenged animals were not significantly different from controls. Mucosal histamine levels and mast cells were significantly reduced in the high dose betamethasone group. Oral disodium cromoglycate did not prevent the abnormalities but provided a slight beneficial effect.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1425070&dopt=Abstract betamethasone Diprolene AF



Diprolene
Effects of betamethasone and thyroid hormone on fetal rat lung maturation in vivo.

Moya FR, Sanchez I, Baudy D.

Department of Pediatrics, Louisiana State University Medical School, New Orleans.

We studied the effect of maternal administration at various intervals of betamethasone, triiodothyronine (T3), or both, on fetal rat lung maturation. T3 alone did not enhance choline incorporation to phosphatidylcholine by 20-day fetal lung explants, or morphometric lung maturation. Betamethasone, and betamethasone plus T3, increased both of those parameters over control and T3 values. However, addition of T3 offered no advantage over administration of betamethasone alone. Significant enhancement of morphometric lung maturation was already present after only 24 h of exposure to beta-methasone, or to the combination of hormones. However, choline incorporation to phosphatidylcholine only increased significantly by 36 h of exposure to betamethasone with or without T3.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1483358&dopt=Abstract betamethasone Diprolene AF



Diprolene
Steroid inhibition of oedema formation in the rat skin.

Ahluwalia A, Peers SH, Flower RJ.

Department of Biochemical Pharmacology, William Harvey Research Institute, St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, London.

1. A model has been developed to compare the inhibitory effects of the topical steroid, betamethasone-17-valerate, to those of systemically administered betamethasone upon oedema responses induced by 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), platelet activating factor (PAF) and zymosan-activated serum (ZAS) +/- prostaglandin E1 (PGE1), measured in the rat skin by use of 125I-labelled human serum albumin. 2. Systemic betamethasone had a selective, time- and dose-dependent inhibitory effect upon oedema treatment, with 1 mg kg-1 and a 3 h pretreatment having the greatest effect of the doses and times employed. 3. Topical betamethasone inhibited the oedema responses to all of the stimuli showing no apparent selectivity. 4. Topical betamethasone inhibits inflammatory stimuli in a different manner from systemic betamethasone. The broad spectrum of inhibition suggests that topical betamethasone acts by affecting a fundamental feature of the inflammatory response common to all of the stimuli.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1504745&dopt=Abstract betamethasone Diprolene AF



Diprolene
Effect of prenatal betamethasone/thyrotropin releasing hormone treatment on somatosensory evoked potentials in preterm newborns.

de Zegher F, de Vries L, Pierrat V, Daniels H, Spitz B, Casaer P, Devlieger H, Eggermont E.

Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, Leuven, Belgium.

The maternal administration of betamethasone and thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) to accelerate the maturation of the fetus is an increasingly adopted strategy to prevent neonatal morbidity in preterm infants. The effect of this prenatal treatment on the neural maturation of the infant was assessed by measuring somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) in preterm infants (gestational age 29-36 wk) on the 1st postnatal day, at the age of 1 wk, and before discharge. The N1 latency values of the SEP obtained in 14 infants who were exposed prenatally to betamethasone/TRH were compared with the N1 latencies measured in 12 control infants. On the 1st postnatal day, the N1 latencies in the betamethasone/TRH-treated infants were strikingly shorter (p less than 0.01) than in the controls. However, at the age of 1 wk and at discharge, the N1 latency values of both groups were similar. In conclusion, the present study provides the first solid evidence for the concept that the prenatal exposure to betamethasone/TRH accelerates the SEP-assessed neural maturation of the human fetus, that this prenatal acceleration is followed by a compensatory relative deceleration during the early neonatal period, and that the subsequent SEP-assessed neural maturation proceeds at a normal velocity.

Online source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=1508612&dopt=Abstract betamethasone Diprolene AF