A patient with rheumatoid arthritis needs switching from one oral glucocorticoid to another while maintaining the same anti-inflammatory effect. Which pair of doses is correctly matched as approximately equipotent?

• A Dexamethasone 0.75 mg and betamethasone 10 mg
• B Prednisolone 5 mg and dexamethasone 5 mg
• C Hydrocortisone 5 mg and methylprednisolone 4 mg
• D Hydrocortisone 20 mg and prednisolone 5 mg ✓

Explanation

Standard equivalence: hydrocortisone 20 mg equals prednisolone 5 mg, methylprednisolone 4 mg, and dexamethasone or betamethasone 0.75 mg in anti-inflammatory effect. Option D states this correctly. The distractor pairs fail because dexamethasone 5 mg is roughly seven times a prednisolone 5 mg dose, hydrocortisone 5 mg is far weaker than methylprednisolone 4 mg, and betamethasone 10 mg vastly exceeds dexamethasone 0.75 mg.

Reference: Katzung Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, 15th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.