The World Health Organization's ATC classification organizes medical drugs based on therapeutic properties, chemical composition, and anatomy. It helps make essential medicines readily available globally and is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry.
Prednisone is a synthetic glucocorticoid with anti-inflammatory and immunomodulating properties. After cell surface receptor attachment and cell entry, prednisone enters the nucleus where it binds to and activates specific nuclear receptors, resulting in an altered gene expression and inhibition of proinflammatory cytokine production. This agent also decreases the number of circulating lymphocytes, induces cell differentiation, and stimulates apoptosis in sensitive tumor cell populations.