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Beclometasone or beclomethasone, sold under the brand name Vanceril among others, is a steroid medication. It is available as an inhaler, cream, pills, and nasal spray. The inhaled form is used in the long-term management of asthma. The pills have been used to treat ulcerative colitis. The nasal spray is used to treat allergic rhinitis and nasal polyps.
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Common side effects with the inhaled form include respiratory infections, headaches, and throat inflammation. Beclometasone is a glucocorticoid. It was approved for medical use in the United States in 1976. In 2023, it was the 351st most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 51,000 prescriptions.
Medical uses
Beclometasone is indicated for maintenance treatment of asthma as prophylactic therapy;<!--
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Nasal corticosteroids may be associated with central serous retinopathy.
Pharmacology
Beclometasone is a glucocorticoid. that is present in almost every vertebrate animal cell. The activated glucocorticoid receptor-glucocorticoid complex up-regulates the expression of anti-inflammatory proteins in the nucleus (a process known as transactivation) and represses the expression of proinflammatory proteins in the cytosol by preventing the translocation of other transcription factors from the cytosol into the nucleus (transrepression).
Society and culture
Names
Beclometasone dipropionate is the international nonproprietary name modified and beclomethasone dipropionate is the United States Adopted Name and former British Approved Name. It is a prodrug of the free form, beclometasone (INN). The prodrug beclometasone is marketed in Norway and Russia.
Clenil, Qvar, Cortis are brand names for the inhalers; Beconase, Alanase, Vancenase, Qnasl for the nasal spray or aerosol.