Hydrocortisone butyrate 0.1% scalp lotion
Requires a prescription from a doctor or prescriber
Topical corticosteroids
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Official medicine documents
Safety monitoring data
Yellow Card reports
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Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
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3 branded products available
Part of the Locoid brand family (generic: Hydrocortisone butyrate)
MHRA licensed products
View all licensed products for Hydrocortisone butyrate on the MHRA register
Locoid 0.1% scalp lotion
This is the NHS Drug Tariff indicative price used for reimbursement purposes. It may not reflect the price paid by patients or pharmacies.
View full Drug TariffSource: NHS Drug Tariff via NHSBSA. Derived from dm+d VMPP (Virtual Medicinal Product Pack) pricing data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and NHS BNF section grouping. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Clinical guidelines and formulary information
British National Formulary
Hydrocortisone butyrate
Source: British National Formulary, NICE. Joint Formulary Committee. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
NICE clinical guidance(1)
Source: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
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Supply & product information
Official product databases and supply status monitoring
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. emc (electronic medicines compendium) is operated by Datapharm Ltd. Shortage information sourced from NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service (SPS), sps.nhs.uk.
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
Browse tools
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF codes from NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA). ATC codes from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Drug Statistics Methodology (whocc.no).
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
6-8 hours
Mechanism
Hydrocortisone binds to the cytosolic glucocorticoid receptor.
Food interactions
None known
Human targets
4 targets
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
Half-life
6-8 hours
Protein binding
95%
Metabolism
Elimination
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 1202 interactions
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
Proteins and enzymes this drug interacts with in the body
PMID:8425544
Plays a role in glucocorticoid-mediated down-regulation of the early phase of the inflammatory response (By similarity). Contributes to the adaptive immune response by enhancing signaling cascades that are triggered by T-cell activation, regulates differentiation and proliferation of activated T-cells .
PMID:17008549
Promotes the differentiation of T-cells into Th1 cells and negatively regulates differentiation into Th2 cells .
PMID:17008549
Has no effect on unstimulated T cells .
PMID:17008549
Negatively regulates hormone exocytosis via activation of the formyl peptide receptors and reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton .
PMID:19625660
Has high affinity for Ca(2+) and can bind up to eight Ca(2+) ions (By similarity).
Displays Ca(2+)-dependent binding to phospholipid membranes .
PMID:2532504 PMID:8557678
Plays a role in the formation of phagocytic cups and phagosomes. Plays a role in phagocytosis by mediating the Ca(2+)-dependent interaction between phagosomes and the actin cytoskeleton (By similarity)
PMID:27120390 PMID:37478846
Has a dual mode of action: as a transcription factor that binds to glucocorticoid response elements (GRE), both for nuclear and mitochondrial DNA, and as a modulator of other transcription factors .
PMID:28139699
Affects inflammatory responses, cellular proliferation and differentiation in target tissues. Involved in chromatin remodeling .
PMID:9590696
Plays a role in rapid mRNA degradation by binding to the 5' UTR of target mRNAs and interacting with PNRC2 in a ligand-dependent manner which recruits the RNA helicase UPF1 and the mRNA-decapping enzyme DCP1A, leading to RNA decay .
PMID:25775514
Could act as a coactivator for STAT5-dependent transcription upon growth hormone (GH) stimulation and could reveal an essential role of hepatic GR in the control of body growth (By similarity)
PMID:10497248 PMID:12788846 PMID:17314322 PMID:22796344 PMID:27927697 PMID:30902677 PMID:33387577 PMID:7859916 PMID:8538347
Functions as a dehydrogenase (oxidase), thereby decreasing the concentration of active glucocorticoids, thus protecting the nonselective mineralocorticoid receptor from occupation by glucocorticoids .
PMID:10497248 PMID:12788846 PMID:17314322 PMID:33387577 PMID:7859916
Plays an important role in maintaining glucocorticoids balance during preimplantation and protects the fetus from excessive maternal corticosterone exposure (By similarity). Catalyzes the oxidation of 11beta-hydroxytestosterone (11beta,17beta-dihydroxyandrost-4-ene-3-one) to 11-ketotestosterone (17beta-hydroxyandrost-4-ene-3,11-dione), a major bioactive androgen .
PMID:22796344 PMID:27927697
Catalyzes the conversion of 11beta-hydroxyandrostenedione (11beta-hydroxyandrost-4-ene-3,17-dione) to 11-ketoandrostenedione (androst-4-ene-3,11,17-trione), which can be further metabolized to 11-ketotestosterone .
PMID:27927697
Converts 7-beta-25-dihydroxycholesterol to 7-oxo-25-hydroxycholesterol in vitro .
PMID:30902677
7-beta-25-dihydroxycholesterol (not 7-oxo-25-hydroxycholesterol) acts as a ligand for the G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) Epstein-Barr virus-induced gene 2 (EBI2) and may thereby regulate immune cell migration .
PMID:30902677
May protect ovulating oocytes and fertilizing spermatozoa from the adverse effects of cortisol (By similarity)
Specifically converts dihydrotestosterone to its inactive form 5alpha-androstanediol, that does not bind androgen receptor/AR. Also converts androstanedione, a precursor of testosterone and estrone, to epiandrosterone .
PMID:1401999 PMID:2139411
Expected to use NAD(+) as preferred electron donor for the 3beta-hydroxy-steroid dehydrogenase activity and NADPH for the 3-ketosteroid reductase activity (Probable)
Enzymes involved in drug metabolism — important for understanding drug interactions
Proteins that transport this drug across cell membranes
PMID:2897240 PMID:35970996 PMID:8898203 PMID:9038218 PMID:35507548
Catalyzes the flop of phospholipids from the cytoplasmic to the exoplasmic leaflet of the apical membrane. Participates mainly to the flop of phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, beta-D-glucosylceramides and sphingomyelins .
PMID:8898203
Energy-dependent efflux pump responsible for decreased drug accumulation in multidrug-resistant cells PMID:2897240 PMID:35970996 PMID:9038218
PMID:19129463 PMID:7557095
Responsible for intestinal absorption of bile acids (By similarity). Transports dehydroepiandrosterone 3-sulfate (DHEAS), a major circulating steroid secreted by the adrenal cortex, as well as estrone 3-sulfate and 17beta-estradiol 17-O-(beta-D-glucuronate) .
PMID:11159893 PMID:12568656 PMID:19129463 PMID:23918469 PMID:25560245 PMID:9539145
Mediates apical uptake of all-trans-retinol (atROL) across human retinal pigment epithelium, which is essential to maintaining the integrity of the visual cycle and thus vision .
PMID:25560245
Involved in the uptake of clinically used drugs .
PMID:17301733 PMID:20686826 PMID:27777271
Capable of thyroid hormone transport (both T3 or 3,3',5'-triiodo-L-thyronine, and T4 or L-tyroxine) .
PMID:19129463 PMID:20358049
Also transports prostaglandin E2 .
PMID:19129463
Plays roles in blood-brain and -cerebrospinal fluid barrier transport of organic anions and signal mediators, and in hormone uptake by neural cells (By similarity). May also play a role in the reuptake of neuropeptides such as substance P/TAC1 and vasoactive intestinal peptide/VIP released from retinal neurons .
PMID:25132355
May play an important role in plasma and tissue distribution of the structurally diverse chemotherapeutic drugs methotrexate and paclitaxel .
PMID:23243220
Shows a pH-sensitive substrate specificity which may be ascribed to the protonation state of the binding site and leads to a stimulation of substrate transport in an acidic microenvironment .
PMID:19129463
Hydrogencarbonate/HCO3(-) acts as the probable counteranion that exchanges for organic anions .
PMID:19129463
May contribute to regulate the transport of organic compounds in testis across the blood-testis-barrier (Probable)
PMID:11306452 PMID:12958161 PMID:19506252 PMID:20705604 PMID:28554189 PMID:30405239 PMID:31003562
Involved in porphyrin homeostasis, mediating the export of protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) from both mitochondria to cytosol and cytosol to extracellular space, it also functions in the cellular export of heme .
PMID:20705604 PMID:23189181
Also mediates the efflux of sphingosine-1-P from cells .
PMID:20110355
Acts as a urate exporter functioning in both renal and extrarenal urate excretion .
PMID:19506252 PMID:20368174 PMID:22132962 PMID:31003562 PMID:36749388
In kidney, it also functions as a physiological exporter of the uremic toxin indoxyl sulfate (By similarity). Also involved in the excretion of steroids like estrone 3-sulfate/E1S, 3beta-sulfooxy-androst-5-en-17-one/DHEAS, and other sulfate conjugates .
PMID:12682043 PMID:28554189 PMID:30405239
Mediates the secretion of the riboflavin and biotin vitamins into milk (By similarity). Extrudes pheophorbide a, a phototoxic porphyrin catabolite of chlorophyll, reducing its bioavailability (By similarity).
Plays an important role in the exclusion of xenobiotics from the brain (Probable). It confers to cells a resistance to multiple drugs and other xenobiotics including mitoxantrone, pheophorbide, camptothecin, methotrexate, azidothymidine, and the anthracyclines daunorubicin and doxorubicin, through the control of their efflux .
PMID:11306452 PMID:12477054 PMID:15670731 PMID:18056989 PMID:31254042
In placenta, it limits the penetration of drugs from the maternal plasma into the fetus (By similarity). May play a role in early stem cell self-renewal by blocking differentiation (By similarity).
In inflammatory macrophages, exports itaconate from the cytosol to the extracellular compartment and limits the activation of TFEB-dependent lysosome biogenesis involved in antibacterial innate immune response
PMID:14586168 PMID:15644426 PMID:15846473 PMID:16455804 PMID:31553721
Transports organic anions such as estrone 3-sulfate (E1S) and urate in exchange for dicarboxylates such as glutarate or ketoglutarate (2-oxoglutarate) .
PMID:14586168 PMID:15846473 PMID:15864504 PMID:22108572 PMID:23832370
Plays an important role in the excretion of endogenous and exogenous organic anions, especially from the kidney and the brain .
PMID:11306713 PMID:14586168 PMID:15846473
E1S transport is pH- and chloride-dependent and may also involve E1S/cGMP exchange .
PMID:26377792
Responsible for the transport of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and prostaglandin F2(alpha) (PGF2(alpha)) in the basolateral side of the renal tubule .
PMID:11907186
Involved in the transport of neuroactive tryptophan metabolites kynurenate and xanthurenate .
PMID:22108572 PMID:23832370
Functions as a biopterin transporters involved in the uptake and the secretion of coenzymes tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), dihydrobiopterin (BH2) and sepiapterin to urine, thereby determining baseline levels of blood biopterins .
PMID:28534121
May be involved in the basolateral transport of steviol, a metabolite of the popular sugar substitute stevioside .
PMID:15644426
May participate in the detoxification/ renal excretion of drugs and xenobiotics, such as the histamine H(2)-receptor antagonists fexofenadine and cimetidine, the antibiotic benzylpenicillin (PCG), the anionic herbicide 2,4-dichloro-phenoxyacetate (2,4-D), the diagnostic agent p-aminohippurate (PAH), the antiviral acyclovir (ACV), and the mycotoxin ochratoxin (OTA), by transporting these exogenous organic anions across the cell membrane in exchange for dicarboxylates such as 2-oxoglutarate .
PMID:11669456 PMID:15846473 PMID:16455804
Contributes to the renal uptake of potent uremic toxins (indoxyl sulfate (IS), indole acetate (IA), hippurate/N-benzoylglycine (HA) and 3-carboxy-4-methyl-5-propyl-2-furanpropionate (CMPF)), pravastatin, PCG, E1S and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), and is partly involved in the renal uptake of temocaprilat (an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor) .
PMID:14675047
May contribute to the release of cortisol in the adrenals .
PMID:15864504
Involved in one of the detoxification systems on the choroid plexus (CP), removes substrates such as E1S or taurocholate (TC), PCG, 2,4-D and PAH, from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to the blood for eventual excretion in urine and bile (By similarity). Also contributes to the uptake of several other organic compounds such as the prostanoids prostaglandin E(2) and prostaglandin F(2-alpha), L-carnitine, and the therapeutic drugs allopurinol, 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP) and 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) (By similarity). Mediates the transport of PAH, PCG, and the statins pravastatin and pitavastatin, from the cerebrum into the blood circulation across the blood-brain barrier (BBB).
In summary, plays a role in the efflux of drugs and xenobiotics, helping reduce their undesired toxicological effects on the body (By similarity)
Proteins that carry this drug through the body
Regulates the plasma metabolic clearance rate of steroid hormones by controlling their plasma concentration
ATC D07AB02
ATC D07BB04
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
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Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Hydrocortisone butyrate
Additional database identifiers
ChemSpider
24344
BindingDB
323672
ZINC
ZINC000003977794
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:533
GenAtlas
ANXA1
GeneCards
ANXA1
GenBank Gene Database
BC001275
GenBank Protein Database
12654863
UniProt Accession
ANXA1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:7978
GenAtlas
NR3C1
GeneCards
NR3C1
GenBank Gene Database
X03225
GenBank Protein Database
31680
Guide to Pharmacology
625
UniProt Accession
GCR_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:5209
GenAtlas
HSD11B2
GeneCards
HSD11B2
GenBank Gene Database
U14631
GenBank Protein Database
565082
Guide to Pharmacology
3143
UniProt Accession
DHI2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:5217
GenAtlas
HSD3B1
GeneCards
HSD3B1
GenBank Gene Database
M27137
GenBank Protein Database
306889
UniProt Accession
3BHS1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2637
GenAtlas
CYP3A4
GeneCards
CYP3A4
GenBank Gene Database
M18907
Guide to Pharmacology
1337
UniProt Accession
CP3A4_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2638
GenAtlas
CYP3A5
GeneCards
CYP3A5
GenBank Gene Database
J04813
GenBank Protein Database
181346
Guide to Pharmacology
1338
UniProt Accession
CP3A5_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2640
GeneCards
CYP3A7
GenBank Gene Database
D00408
GenBank Protein Database
220149
UniProt Accession
CP3A7_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2591
GenAtlas
CYP11B1
GeneCards
CYP11B1
GenBank Gene Database
M32879
GenBank Protein Database
181333
Guide to Pharmacology
1359
UniProt Accession
C11B1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2592
GeneCards
CYP11B2
GenBank Gene Database
X54741
GenBank Protein Database
35200
Guide to Pharmacology
1360
UniProt Accession
C11B2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:2622
GenAtlas
CYP2C8
GeneCards
CYP2C8
GenBank Gene Database
M17397
Guide to Pharmacology
1325
UniProt Accession
CP2C8_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10839
GenAtlas
SHBG
GeneCards
SHBG
GenBank Gene Database
X16349
GenBank Protein Database
296673
UniProt Accession
SHBG_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:1540
GenAtlas
SERPINA6
GeneCards
SERPINA6
GenBank Gene Database
J02943
GenBank Protein Database
179971
UniProt Accession
CBG_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:40
GenAtlas
ABCB1
GeneCards
ABCB1
GenBank Gene Database
M14758
GenBank Protein Database
307180
Guide to Pharmacology
768
UniProt Accession
MDR1_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10956
GeneCards
SLCO1A2
GenBank Gene Database
U21943
GenBank Protein Database
885978
Guide to Pharmacology
1219
UniProt Accession
SO1A2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:74
GenAtlas
ABCG2
GeneCards
ABCG2
GenBank Gene Database
AF103796
GenBank Protein Database
4185796
Guide to Pharmacology
792
UniProt Accession
ABCG2_HUMAN
HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC)
HGNC:10972
GeneCards
SLC22A8
GenBank Gene Database
AF097491
GenBank Protein Database
4378059
Guide to Pharmacology
1027
UniProt Accession
S22A8_HUMAN
Patent information
1 active patent, 1 expired
Source: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0. Patent data sourced from national patent offices. Expiry dates may not reflect extensions, regulatory exclusivity periods, or legal challenges.
DrugBank citations
If you use DrugBank data in your research, please cite the following publications: