Hydrocortisone molecular structure

Clearly the physicochemical properties of a drug are a decisive factor in its overall activity. Where possible, molecular structures should be optimized to obtain best clinical performance. Rarely does an oral drug have physicochemical features suitable for topical or transdermal therapy, and it can take a great deal of systematic research to identify where the best balance of activity and permeability lies. Experience with corticosteroids suggests that as much as a 100-fold improvement in clinical activity may be attainable through molecular design, for today s most potent topical corticosteroids are more active than hydrocortisone by a factor at least this large. 

Musk has anti-inflammatory and antihistami-nic activities on experimental animals, Its anti-inflammatory activity was greater than that of phenylbutazone against arthritis in rats induced by injection of dead tubercle bacteria in liquid paraffin/ Its water-soluble ftaction has the strongest anti-inflammatory activity, being 36 times that of hydrocortisone in mouse ear edema induced by croton oil. The active principle is a polypeptide with a molecular weight of about 10,000 whose structure has not been determined. 

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