Budesonide
- Class: Inhaled corticosteroid
- Used for: asthma
- Say it: byoo-DES-oh-nide
- Forms: inhaler, nebulizer
Picture the airway squeezed shut like a flower BUD. The inhaled steroid calms the swollen wall and the bud opens. Budesonide = inhaled corticosteroid for asthma.
Prednisone, fluticasone, budesonide — the stem marks a corticosteroid. Inhaled and topical ones act where they land and must be taken daily to work at all; swallowed ones act everywhere, and the side effects scale with how systemic the route is. All drug suffixes ›
Side effects
Common: oral thrush, hoarse voice, cough
Serious: adrenal suppression at high doses
Typical dose
200–800 micrograms daily inhaled, in two doses
Divide the daily dose in two. With a spacer, a lower nominal dose delivers the same amount to the airway.
Check yourself
How does Budesonide relieve asthma?
- It relaxes airway smooth muscle directly for fast relief
- It binds the glucocorticoid receptor and switches inflammatory genes off
- It blocks leukotriene receptors on the airway wall
- It blocks muscarinic receptors to dry up secretions
Show answer
B. It binds the glucocorticoid receptor and switches inflammatory genes off
Budesonide is an inhaled corticosteroid: it binds the glucocorticoid receptor, the complex travels into the nucleus, and inflammatory genes are turned down. It is a controller, not a rescue inhaler — direct smooth-muscle relaxation is albuterol.
See it, don't memorize it
The app has the mechanism comic and a patient case for Budesonide – plus the name link, the class mnemonic, pronunciation you can hear, and a self-check, for the top 100 drugs. One purchase, no subscription, no account.