Oral beclomethasone dipropionate: a critical review of its use in the management of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

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.