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Methylprednisolone

  • Prescription medicine
  • Given by a clinician
  • Identity checked
  • Sources last checked 2026-09-04

This page shows what was measured, who it was measured in, and what that does not settle.

What Methylprednisolone does in the body

Severe inflammation, autoimmune flares and allergic reactions, particularly where a high dose is needed quickly by injection

Methylprednisolone works exactly the way prednisolone does: it enters cells, frees a receptor that travels into the nucleus, and switches off the genes that produce inflammatory signals. One extra methyl group makes it slightly stronger per milligram and removes most of the salt-retaining effect, which matters when very large amounts are given at once. What sets it apart is how it can be delivered — a water-soluble form that goes into a vein by the gram, and an oily form that sits in a joint for weeks releasing slowly. Neither of those changes what the drug does inside a cell; they change how much of it arrives, and where.

What happened in people

Death within 2 weeks of head injury 21.1% against 17.9% on placebo in 10,008 patients, relative risk 1.18 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.27), P=0.0001

Source-linked record

Where this came from

A person wrote this into the record with the study named beside it. No reviewer has signed it off.

The recorded finding that sits closest to something a person would notice. Written into the record, not signed off, and it carries no population or interval.

The limit that matters most

That reducing vasogenic oedema around a tumour means reducing the cytotoxic oedema of traumatic brain injury

Where it acts
Cytoplasm and nucleus of nucleated cells throughout the body. The depot acetate formulation acts additionally as a local reservoir at the injection site — a joint, an epidural space, a lesion.
Kind of result
Living longer, or avoiding a major event
Supervision
RNAWiki has not recorded a supervision or regulatory status for this substance.

What the registries record it as

  • The substance registry classes this as chemical.

    FDA substance registry · X4W7ZR7023 · read 2026-08-29

Where each sentence above came from

No recorded sentence describes the change this makes in a way that stands on its own. The page opens with what it is taken for instead, and the recorded explanation follows below.

Shown as the opening line on this page.

A limit recorded against this substance. Not signed off as a reviewed claim.

The four opening statements run to 159 words.

Words this page uses

Four words worth knowing first

Chosen from what this page shows, with each one explained before the word it depends on.

Randomisation

Randomisation means chance decides who gets which treatment.

A picture of it, and where the picture fails

It is like a coin toss deciding the groups.

Where that stops being true. A coin toss is fair once. Fairness here comes from doing it for everyone.

What people get wrong. It is thought to make groups identical. It makes them similar on average, including on things nobody measured.

Allocation of participants to arms by a chance process, so that unmeasured factors are balanced in expectation.

Confidence interval

A confidence interval is the range the true answer is likely to sit in.

A picture of it, and where the picture fails

It is like a weather forecast giving a range rather than one number.

Where that stops being true. A forecast range covers tomorrow. This one covers what the study could resolve.

What people get wrong. The middle number is read as the answer. A range crossing zero means no change is still possible.

An interval estimate that would contain the true parameter in a stated proportion of repeated studies.

Receptor

A receptor is a part of a cell that a signal fits into.

A picture of it, and where the picture fails

A receptor is like a lock waiting for one key.

Where that stops being true. A lock either opens or does not. A receptor can be half-triggered, or worn out.

What people get wrong. Fitting a receptor is read as causing a benefit. It causes a step, and nothing more.

A protein that binds a specific ligand and converts that binding into a cellular response.

Pathway

A pathway is a chain of steps inside a cell, each one setting off the next.

A picture of it, and where the picture fails

A pathway is like a row of dominoes.

Where that stops being true. Dominoes fall one way. Pathways loop back and can switch themselves off.

What people get wrong. Changing one step is read as changing the outcome. Other steps often absorb it.

An ordered series of molecular interactions producing a defined cellular change.

What happened in peopleRead from sources, not yet reviewed

What was measured, goal by goal

One row for each goal a registered study measured something for. One column for each kind of thing that could be measured.

Registered studies list 40 outcome measures that RNAWiki could read. A registered study says what someone planned to measure. It does not say what they found. 0 of the matched studies tested this substance, and 0 posted a result.

There is no single score. A strong test result and a weak life result are different facts.

Goals down the side, kinds of measurement across the top. Each cell says what kind of thing was registered, not what was found.
GoalLife outcomeWhat a body can doHow a person feelsA test resultA step in the bodyHarmsHow longWho was studied
RecoveryNothing in the sources checkedNo registered study lists a life outcome for this goal.Nothing in the sources checkedNo registered study lists a performance measure for this goal.Nothing in the sources checkedNo registered study lists a symptom measure for this goal.Nothing in the sources checkedNo registered study lists a test result for this goal.Nothing in the sources checkedNo registered study lists a body-step measure for this goal.Not recordedHarms were not a registered measure for this goal.Not recordedNo finished study window is recorded.Waiting for a reviewerWho was studied is listed further down the page.
Healthy ageingWaiting for a reviewer1 registered study measure of this kind. No reviewed result yet.Nothing in the sources checkedNo registered study lists a performance measure for this goal.Nothing in the sources checkedNo registered study lists a symptom measure for this goal.Nothing in the sources checkedNo registered study lists a test result for this goal.Nothing in the sources checkedNo registered study lists a body-step measure for this goal.Not recordedHarms were not a registered measure for this goal.Not recordedNo finished study window is recorded.Waiting for a reviewerWho was studied is listed further down the page.
Which registered measures put each goal on this table
Recovery
hematopoietic recovery
Healthy ageing
transplant related mortality 100 days post transplant

Sorted by fixed word lists, version v1. A name the rules do not recognise stays unsorted rather than moving to the nearest column.

What each mark on this table means
Nothing in the sources checked
No registered study lists a life outcome for this goal.
Not recorded
Harms were not a registered measure for this goal.
Waiting for a reviewer
Who was studied is listed further down the page.

What happened in peopleRead from sources, not yet reviewed

What happened in people

Each card is one study: the exact question it asked, who was in it, and whether it showed what it set out to show.

Death within 2 weeks of injury; death or disability at 6 months

The study did not show it

Who was studied
MRC CRASH (ISRCTN74459797)
How many people
10008
Study design
Phase 3, international, randomised, placebo-controlled
Compared against
A dummy treatment
Kind of result
Living longer, or avoiding a major event
What was found
Death at 2 weeks 21.1% against 17.9%, relative risk 1.18 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.27), P=0.0001 — favouring placebo; death at 6 months 25.7% against 22.3%, RR 1.15 (1.07 to 1.24), P=0.0001
Repeated elsewhere
Unreplicated

What this does not prove. A study that did not show an effect does not show that no effect exists anywhere.

The limits of this study, and where it came from

Main limit. Recruitment was stopped by the steering committee on the data monitoring committee’s recommendation. The trial reports that the cause of the excess mortality is unclear, and the effect did not differ by injury severity or time since injury, so no subgroup can be carved out to preserve the indication.

How far it carries. This study is recorded from the curated record, not from the registry match.

Form and route. Oral tablet including dose packs, sodium succinate powder for intravenous and intramuscular injection, and acetate suspension for intramuscular, intra-articular, intralesional and soft-tissue depot injection

Interval reported. 95% CI 1

Written into the record, not signed off as a reviewed claim.

Motor and sensory function change from admission at six weeks and six months after acute spinal cord injury

The study did not show it

Who was studied
NASCIS II (Bracken 1990)
How many people
487
Study design
Multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, three-arm
Compared against
A dummy treatment
Kind of result
What a body can do day to day
What was found
Benefit reported only in the subgroup treated within 8 hours: motor change 16.0 against 11.2 (P=0.03), pinprick 11.4 against 6.6 (P=0.02), touch 8.9 against 4.3 (P=0.03). Patients treated after 8 hours did not differ from placebo.
Repeated elsewhere
Failed to Replicate

What this does not prove. A study that did not show an effect does not show that no effect exists anywhere.

The limits of this study, and where it came from

Main limit. The 8-hour threshold was not the prespecified primary comparison and the whole-cohort analysis did not show benefit. The 2013 AANS/CNS guideline subsequently issued a Level I recommendation against administering methylprednisolone in acute spinal cord injury.

How far it carries. This study is recorded from the curated record, not from the registry match.

Form and route. Oral tablet including dose packs, sodium succinate powder for intravenous and intramuscular injection, and acetate suspension for intramuscular, intra-articular, intralesional and soft-tissue depot injection

Interval reported. Not recorded in this summary

Written into the record, not signed off as a reviewed claim.

Improvement of at least one point on the most affected Kurtzke Functional System Scale score by day 28 without corticosteroid retreatment

The study showed what it set out to show

Who was studied
COPOUSEP (NCT00984984)
How many people
199
Study design
Phase 3, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, non-inferiority
Compared against
Not recorded for this study
Kind of result
What a body can do day to day
What was found
81% oral against 80% intravenous; absolute difference 0.5% (90% CI -9.5 to 10.4), within the prespecified 15% non-inferiority margin
Repeated elsewhere
Partially Replicated

What this does not prove. Meeting one endpoint in one population does not carry to other goals or other people.

The limits of this study, and where it came from

Main limit. Insomnia was more frequent in the oral group (77% against 64%). The per-protocol population was 172 of 199 randomised, which is the appropriate analysis for non-inferiority but discards 14% of participants.

How far it carries. This study is recorded from the curated record, not from the registry match.

Form and route. Oral tablet including dose packs, sodium succinate powder for intravenous and intramuscular injection, and acetate suspension for intramuscular, intra-articular, intralesional and soft-tissue depot injection

Interval reported. Not recorded in this summary

Written into the record, not signed off as a reviewed claim.

What we know
RNAWiki holds 3 written-up human studies for this substance, each with the question it asked.
How we know it
Each card names the study, the number of people and what the study set out to measure.
What this does not prove
These summaries were written by a person and have not been signed off as reviewed claims.
Why it matters
A study that failed is as informative as one that worked, and both are here.
What we still do not know
No reviewed claim exists, so no exact population, effect size or interval is published yet.

What happened in peopleRead from sources, not yet reviewed

How close this is to real life

The top step is something a person would feel or care about. The bottom is a guess from software. Filled steps are where evidence exists for this substance.

  1. Living longer, or avoiding a major event Evidence recorded. Death, a heart attack, a stroke, a hospital stay.13 registered measures of this kind. 1 written-up study measured this and did not show a benefit.
  2. What a body can do day to day No evidence recorded. Walking, dressing, breathing, recovering.No registered study measures this.
  3. Measured performance No evidence recorded. How much was lifted, how far was run, how fast.No registered study measures this.
  4. Symptoms and quality of life No evidence recorded. Pain, tiredness, mood, sleep, as the person rated it.No registered study measures this.
  5. A number that stands in for health No evidence recorded. Cholesterol, blood sugar, bone density. A stand-in, not the thing itself.No registered study measures this.
  6. A step measured inside a person Evidence recorded. Something measured in human tissue or human cells.1 registered measure inside human tissue.
  7. Animals Evidence recorded. Mice, rats, dogs. Useful for ideas, not proof about people.Stored records in Mouse, Rat, Dog. A result in animals says what to test next. It does not say what happens in people.
  8. Cells in a dish Evidence recorded. Cells or chemistry on a bench, far from a whole body.Stored mechanism abstracts describe steps measured in cells or tissue.
  9. A guess from software No evidence recorded. Nobody measured it. RNAWiki never publishes one as a finding.RNAWiki stores no prediction for this record. Software can suggest a link. RNAWiki does not publish one as a finding.

Higher on these steps means closer to something a person would feel. It does not mean better done.

What it changes in the bodyRead from sources, not yet reviewed

The path through the body

From what a person takes to what changes. A solid line is a step measured in people. A dashed line is a step nobody has measured that way.

  1. Start

    Methylprednisolone

    What a person takes: Oral tablet including dose packs, sodium succinate powder for intravenous and intramuscular injection, and acetate suspension for intramuscular, intra-articular, intralesional and soft-tissue depot injection.

    The measurement behind this step

    The molecule is poorly water-soluble, and the two esters solve opposite problems. The succinate dissolves freely and allows gram-scale intravenous administration over minutes. The acetate is a micronised crystal suspension that dissolves slowly and acts as a local depot for one to several weeks. The acetate suspension is explicitly not for intrathecal use, and no corticosteroid product is approved for epidural administration.

  2. Getting in

    Two esters decide where the drug goes

    The molecule itself barely dissolves in water. Attaching one chemical group makes it dissolve freely so it can be injected into a vein in large amounts; attaching a different one makes it dissolve even less, so it stays where it is put.

    Measured in people. Written by a person from the study named beside the step. Not signed off as a reviewed claim.

    The measurement behind this step

    The 21-hemisuccinate sodium salt is freely water-soluble and is the form used for intravenous and intramuscular administration at doses up to grams. The 21-acetate is a poorly soluble crystalline suspension with a depot effect lasting one to several weeks at the injection site. Both are prodrugs: plasma and tissue esterases hydrolyse them to release free methylprednisolone.

  3. Reaching the cell

    Free drug crosses into cells everywhere it reaches

    Once the ester is cleaved the drug behaves like any other steroid: it diffuses through cell membranes with no transporter and no gate.

    Described, with no measurement named. No measurement is named for this step, so it is drawn as an unconfirmed link.

    The measurement behind this step

    Passive diffusion across the lipid bilayer, consistent with the logP of about 2.1 held on this record. From a depot injection this happens progressively over weeks; from an intravenous infusion it happens within minutes and at concentrations far above anything the adrenal glands could produce.

  4. What it acts on

    The receptor is freed and moves to the nucleus

    The same step as every other steroid on this site: the drug binds a receptor held by chaperone proteins, the chaperones let go, and the receptor travels into the nucleus.

    Described, with no measurement named. No measurement is named for this step, so it is drawn as an unconfirmed link.

    The measurement behind this step

    Dissociation of the HSP90-HSP70-p23-immunophilin complex on NR3C1, FKBP51 to FKBP52 exchange, dynein-mediated nuclear import. The 6-alpha methyl group raises affinity modestly over prednisolone and lowers mineralocorticoid receptor cross-reactivity.

  5. The change it makes

    At gram-scale exposure, non-genomic effects appear as well

    At the very high doses used for a relapse or a rejection episode, the drug does more than change which genes are read. It also acts directly on cell membranes within minutes, faster than any gene could respond.

    Measured in people. Written by a person from the study named beside the step. Not signed off as a reviewed claim.

    The measurement behind this step

    Above roughly 100 mg prednisolone-equivalent, non-genomic mechanisms contribute: direct physicochemical interaction with plasma and mitochondrial membranes altering cation transport, and interaction with membrane-bound glucocorticoid receptors. These act within minutes rather than the hours transcriptional effects require, and they are the usual explanation for the speed of pulse therapy. They are also less well characterised than the genomic pathway.

  6. What that does for a person

    The inflammatory event is shortened

    In a multiple sclerosis relapse or a transplant rejection episode, a short burst of very high exposure ends the attack faster than leaving it alone would.

    Measured in people. Written by a person from the study named beside the step. Not signed off as a reviewed claim.

    The measurement behind this step

    COPOUSEP measured improvement of at least one point on the most affected Kurtzke Functional System Scale score by day 28 without retreatment in 81% of orally treated and 80% of intravenously treated patients. The endpoint is recovery from the relapse, not the long-run course of the disease.

  7. What that does for a person

    Where the target was not inflammation, the same exposure did harm

    Given after a head injury, on the theory that it would reduce brain swelling, more people died. The trial that showed it was large enough that there is no serious argument with the result.

    Measured in people. Written by a person from the study named beside the step. Not signed off as a reviewed claim.

    The measurement behind this step

    10,008 patients randomised; death within 2 weeks 21.1% against 17.9%, relative risk 1.18 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.27, P=0.0001), sustained at 6 months at 25.7% against 22.3%. The oedema of traumatic brain injury is predominantly cytotoxic and does not respond to the mechanism that reduces vasogenic oedema around a tumour.

No suggested links are held for this record, so nothing is hidden from this path.

What we know
The record describes 6 steps from taking it to an effect in a person.
How we know it
Each step names the study behind it in the technical detail beside it.
What this does not prove
A change inside the body is a reason to look. It is not a result in a person.
Why it matters
A reader can see exactly where the chain stops being measured in people.
What we still do not know
No reviewed claim binds any of these steps to a named population.

What it would be like to takeRead from sources, not yet reviewed

Felt, measured, or meaningful

Three different things that get called the same word. Registered studies measured all three, and mixing them is how a blood test becomes a health claim.

Felt

Things a person could notice without a test.

No registered study measured anything of this kind.

Measured

Things only a test, a scale or a device shows.

  • incidence of biopsy confirmed acute rejection at 6 months

Meaningful

Things that change how a life goes, not only a number.

  • overall disease survival
  • event free survival
  • event free survival by disease assessment
  • event free survival after first randomization
  • disease free survival after second and third randomization
  • toxic death
  • transplant related mortality 100 days post transplant
  • disease free survival 100 days post transplant
  • overall survival 100 days post transplant
  • relapse free complete clinical response

and 3 more.

A registered study says what someone planned to measure. It does not say what they found. A number moving is not the same as a life going better. The two are shown apart here.

Felt, but not shown to help. A person notices a change. No study showed it leads anywhere good.

Measured, but not felt. A number moves. The person notices nothing. Both can be true.

Measured, but not shown to matter. A number moves in the good direction. Nobody showed that lives went better.

Matters, but takes years. The result that counts may take longer than anyone would keep watching.

Names that fit none of the three (26)
  • vary by protocol
  • clinical response
  • maximum tolerated dose
  • overall response rate
  • rates of durable engraftment in
  • incidence of primary graft failure
  • hematopoietic recovery
  • incidence of graft versus host disease
  • rate of decrease of acute gvhd grade
  • day 100 trm
  • day 100 best response
  • grade 3 stomatitis
  • response rate
  • minimal residual disease
  • incidence of graft failure 100 days post transplant
  • acute rejections in all enrolled
  • comparison of the incidence of engraftment historical data
  • hearing improvement
  • graft vs host disease response
  • saes

These are harms, study-process measures, or names the rules did not recognise. They are shown rather than dropped.

What is missing or unclearRead from sources, not yet reviewed

Were people like you studied?

RNAWiki cannot tell whether a study fits you. It can show who was in it, and where the result stops carrying.

Who was studied

People similar to this profile were included.

  • People having a multiple sclerosis relapse, an acute transplant rejection episode, a severe asthma or autoimmune flare, or a joint or epidural injection.

Who is missing from the studies

  • Which groups were under-represented in the studies has not been recorded for this substance. Pregnancy, breastfeeding, children, older adults, and people with liver or kidney conditions are commonly excluded from trials; nothing here says whether they were.

What the label states about particular groups

  • On pediatric, the label states: “The efficacy and safety of corticosteroids in the pediatric population are based on the well-established course of effect of corticosteroids which is similar in pediatric and adult populations.”

    US prescribing information · 18dacdba-793c-490d-aa73-9e76bec41fae · read 2026-08-30

  • On people who are pregnant, the label states: “Teratogenic Effects Corticosteroids have been shown to be teratogenic in many species when given in doses equivalent to the human dose.”

    US prescribing information · 18dacdba-793c-490d-aa73-9e76bec41fae · read 2026-08-30

  • On people who are breastfeeding, the label states: “Systemically administered corticosteroids appear in human milk and could suppress growth, interfere with endogenous corticosteroid production, or cause other untoward effects.”

    US prescribing information · 18dacdba-793c-490d-aa73-9e76bec41fae · read 2026-08-30

Where the result stopped carrying

  • CRASH was stopped early because methylprednisolone increased death after head injury, and the excess persisted at six months
  • The spinal cord injury indication was formally reversed by a Level I guideline recommendation in 2013 after twenty-three years of use
  • The 2012 compounding contamination produced the largest healthcare-associated outbreak in modern United States history and led to new federal legislation
  • CRASH could offer no mechanism for the harm it measured, and the effect did not concentrate in any subgroup that could be excluded
  • This is a scope explorer, not a diagnosis engine.
  • It shows who was studied so you can see whether people similar to you were included.

RNAWiki cannot tell whether a study fits you. It can show who was in it.

What it would be like to takeRead from sources, not yet reviewed

Why it might seem to do nothing

A real effect and a noticed effect are different things. These are the recorded reasons the two come apart.

It was studied for a different goal

The studies measured something else entirely.

On this record: Some registered studies measured things that match no goal on this page.

It was studied in different people

The people in the studies were not much like the reader.

On this record: Which groups were under-represented in the studies has not been recorded for this substance. Pregnancy, breastfeeding, children, older adults, and people with liver or kidney conditions are commonly excluded from trials; nothing here says whether they were.

The evidence may simply be wrong

Small early studies often do not hold up.

On this record: RNAWiki has not yet published a reviewed conclusion for this use.

Other reasons RNAWiki checked and found nothing for (10)
A different form was studied
The studied form is not the form on the shelf. Nothing in this record points to this reason.
There was nothing to correct
Where a level is already normal, topping it up may change nothing. Nothing in this record points to this reason.
Something else had to happen too
In the studies it was paired with training, a diet or another treatment. Nothing in this record points to this reason.
The change is too small to feel
A real change can still sit below what a person notices. Nothing in this record points to this reason.
Day-to-day swing hides it
Sleep, food, stress and time of day move most numbers more than this would. Nothing in this record points to this reason.
Not enough time yet
The studies ran longer than the person has waited. Nothing in this record points to this reason.
It was not taken as studied
Missed days change the result, and studies count them. Nothing in this record points to this reason.
Something else changed at the same time
Two changes at once cannot be told apart afterwards. Nothing in this record points to this reason.
The product may not be what it says
Contents of a sold product are not always what the label states. Nothing in this record points to this reason.
No recorded reason
RNAWiki has nothing stored that would explain it. Nothing in this record points to this reason.

None of these is a reason to take more. Taking more is not a step this page ever suggests.

What it would be like to takeRead from sources, not yet reviewed

What taking it involves

The recorded facts about getting hold of it and using it. Nothing here is a suggestion about what you should do.

How it is supplied

Given by a clinician

Quoted from a source

Where this came from

Copied from a source RNAWiki stored, with the source named.

Read from the recorded approval status.

No source is stored against this line.

Form and route

Oral tablet including dose packs, sodium succinate powder for intravenous and intramuscular injection, and acetate suspension for intramuscular, intra-articular, intralesional and soft-tissue depot injection

Source-linked record

Where this came from

A person wrote this into the record with the study named beside it. No reviewer has signed it off.

The form and route recorded on this substance.

No source is stored against this line.

Who oversees it

RNAWiki has not recorded a supervision or regulatory status for this substance.

Quoted from a source

Where this came from

Copied from a source RNAWiki stored, with the source named.

No register row and no identity class settled the question.

No source is stored against this line.

What is in the pack

The molecule is poorly water-soluble, and the two esters solve opposite problems. The succinate dissolves freely and allows gram-scale intravenous administration over minutes. The acetate is a micronised crystal suspension that dissolves slowly and acts as a local depot for one to several weeks. The acetate suspension is explicitly not for intrathecal use, and no corticosteroid product is approved for epidural administration.

Source-linked record

Where this came from

A person wrote this into the record with the study named beside it. No reviewer has signed it off.

Recorded notes on how this is sold and what that means for what is in the pack.

No source is stored against this line.

Where it is registered

Regulatory records are listed in the technical disclosure at the foot of this page.

Counted from records

Where this came from

A count of rows RNAWiki holds. It describes our records, not your body.

Register entries are stored per jurisdiction and shown with their dates.

No source is stored against this line.

Why people stop

Not recorded.

Nothing recorded

Where this came from

RNAWiki holds nothing here and says so rather than guessing.

No record of why people stopped taking it is stored for this substance.

No source is stored against this line.

What it would be like to takeRead from sources, not yet reviewed

What can go wrong

Sorted by where each line came from. A regulator's label and a report somebody sent in are not the same kind of fact.

Worth asking a clinician aboutWritten into the record from the studies named on this page

Full class profile: adrenal suppression, infection risk and masking, hyperglycaemia, hypertension, osteoporosis and osteonecrosis, myopathy, cataract and glaucoma, peptic ulceration with NSAIDs, and psychiatric disturbance. Specific to this molecule: a randomised trial in 10,008 patients found increased mortality when given after head injury; the 2013 AANS/CNS guideline recommends against its use in acute spinal cord injury; the label warns that epidural injection of corticosteroids has caused serious neurologic events including spinal cord infarction, paraplegia, quadriplegia, cortical blindness and stroke, some resulting in death, and that corticosteroids are not approved for that route; and depot injections carry the infection risk of any injectable, which in 2012 produced 749 fungal infections and 61 deaths from contaminated compounded product.

Nobody counted how many people took this and were fine, so this cannot be turned into a rate.

Where this came from

Reports sent to a regulator

  • These are reports people sent to a regulator. They do not show the medicine caused the reaction.
  • Nobody counted how many people took the medicine and reported nothing.
  • The same event can be reported more than once, and many reports are incomplete.
  • News coverage, lawsuits and new warnings change how often people report.
  • A count is not a rate and not a risk.

Methylprednisolone appears in spontaneous reports to regulators. Across the 10 most-reported reaction terms, 27380 reaction mentions were counted. One report can name several reactions.

The recorded terms (10)
  • rheumatoid arthritis — 4289 reaction mentions
  • alopecia — 3180 reaction mentions
  • abdominal discomfort — 3062 reaction mentions
  • febrile neutropenia — 3032 reaction mentions
  • systemic lupus erythematosus — 2611 reaction mentions
  • pemphigus — 2586 reaction mentions
  • swelling — 2567 reaction mentions
  • glossodynia — 2026 reaction mentions
  • arthropathy — 2025 reaction mentions
  • cytomegalovirus infection — 2002 reaction mentions
  • open-targets-adr · recorded 2026-06-24 · a recorded source, not a stored snapshot

Over a long time. No completed tested study window is recorded, so long-term effects are not established by the registry record.

Groups the studies covered thinly. Which groups were under-represented in the studies has not been recorded for this substance. Pregnancy, breastfeeding, children, older adults, and people with liver or kidney conditions are commonly excluded from trials; nothing here says whether they were.

What is missing or unclearRead from sources, not yet reviewed

Does the exact form matter?

Evidence belongs to the exact thing that was tested. A different salt, a different mixture or a different preparation is a different question.

The form that was studied

Oral tablet including dose packs, sodium succinate powder for intravenous and intramuscular injection, and acetate suspension for intramuscular, intra-articular, intralesional and soft-tissue depot injection

Source-linked record

Where this came from

A person wrote this into the record with the study named beside it. No reviewer has signed it off.

The form used in the studies cited on this page.

No source is stored against this line.

What is sold

The succinate dissolves freely and allows gram-scale intravenous administration over minutes. The acetate is a micronised crystal suspension that dissolves slowly and acts as a local depot for one to several weeks. The acetate suspension is explicitly not for intrathecal use, and no corticosteroid product is approved for epidural administration.

Source-linked record

Where this came from

A person wrote this into the record with the study named beside it. No reviewer has signed it off.

Recorded notes on which forms are sold and how they compare.

No source is stored against this line.

What is recorded as being sold

  • 165 products list this as an active ingredient in the United States drug directory. 165 of them contain it and nothing else.

    FDA National Drug Code directory · 71872-7061 · read 2026-08-29

  • They are sold as crystal, injection, injection, powder, for solution, injection, powder, lyophilized, for solution, injection, suspension and powder, taken intra-articular, intralesional, intramuscular and intrasynovial.

    FDA National Drug Code directory · 71872-7061 · read 2026-08-29

  • The regulator's established pharmacologic class for it is corticosteroid hormone receptor agonists [moa] and corticosteroid [epc].

    FDA National Drug Code directory · 71872-7061 · read 2026-08-29

  • 87 published labels name it as an active ingredient. 87 of them describe this substance alone, which is where its own label text on this page comes from.

    US prescribing information · 18dacdba-793c-490d-aa73-9e76bec41fae · read 2026-08-29

  • Those labels are classed as human prescription drug.

    US prescribing information · 18dacdba-793c-490d-aa73-9e76bec41fae · read 2026-08-29

  • 5 marketed supplement labels list this ingredient, classed as other combinations and vitamin.

    NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database · 22186 · read 2026-08-29

  • Those labels carry all other and nutrient claims. A claim of that kind is written by the manufacturer and is not assessed by any regulator, so its presence says nothing about whether it is true.

    NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database · 22186 · read 2026-08-29

  • Medroloan II SUIK is intra-articular at HOW SUPPLIED Methylprednisolone Acetate Injectable Suspension, USP is supplied as a white to off-white homogenous suspension in single-dose vial available in the following strengths and package sizes: 40 mg/mL (1 mL) Si…, recorded as fda label in effect 2022-12-09 in the United States.

    US prescribing information · 18dacdba-793c-490d-aa73-9e76bec41fae · read 2026-08-30

  • Recorded price in US: 0.12399–2.86997 USD per one unit as the pricing file counts it — a tablet, capsule, patch or single item, across 22 priced products whose strengths and pack forms differ, as of 2026-08-26, paid by retail pharmacies buying the product, as surveyed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. It is not a list price, an insurance price, or what anyone pays at a counter..

    Recorded source · 2026-08-26 · read 2026-08-28

  • Recorded price in US: 5.8078–11.92429 USD per one millilitre, across 10 priced products whose strengths and pack forms differ, as of 2026-08-26, paid by retail pharmacies buying the product, as surveyed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. It is not a list price, an insurance price, or what anyone pays at a counter..

    Recorded source · 2026-08-26 · read 2026-08-28

Evidence carries across two names for one substance. It does not carry across a salt, a mirror form or a mixture.

What it would be like to takeRead from sources, not yet reviewed

What you could measure

This one is decided with a clinician, so this section holds questions to ask rather than a plan to run.

RNAWiki could not confidently classify this substance, so no self-experiment plan is offered.

Questions worth asking

  • Which of the trials of Methylprednisolone studied people like me?
  • What was measured, and for how long?
  • Was the result a laboratory value or a health outcome?
  • What would we watch for, and when would we stop?

Tracking can show whether something changed for you. It cannot show what caused it.

RNAWiki records evidence. It does not say whether this substance is right for you.

What is missing or unclearRead from sources, not yet reviewed

Claims that go past the evidence

Things said about this substance that sound reasonable, and the exact step that is missing between the evidence and the claim.

Goes past the evidence

That reducing vasogenic oedema around a tumour means reducing the cytotoxic oedema of traumatic brain injury

Why it sounds right. It follows from something real on this page: a body step, an animal result or a related finding.

The missing step. Nobody measured this in people for this use, or the study that did measure it did not show it.

What would change this

A study in people, for this exact use, measuring this exact thing, that a reviewer signs off.

RNAWiki has not yet published a reviewed conclusion for this use.

Goes past the evidence

That a subgroup defined by treatment within 8 hours in 487 patients established a standard of care in spinal cord injury

Why it sounds right. It follows from something real on this page: a body step, an animal result or a related finding.

The missing step. Nobody measured this in people for this use, or the study that did measure it did not show it.

What would change this

A study in people, for this exact use, measuring this exact thing, that a reviewer signs off.

RNAWiki has not yet published a reviewed conclusion for this use.

Goes past the evidence

That shortening a multiple sclerosis relapse changes long-term disability accumulation — nothing in these trials measured it

Why it sounds right. It follows from something real on this page: a body step, an animal result or a related finding.

The missing step. Nobody measured this in people for this use, or the study that did measure it did not show it.

What would change this

A study in people, for this exact use, measuring this exact thing, that a reviewer signs off.

RNAWiki has not yet published a reviewed conclusion for this use.

Goes past the evidence

That epidural injection is an established use, when no corticosteroid product is approved for that route and the label warns of paralysis, blindness and stroke by it

Why it sounds right. It follows from something real on this page: a body step, an animal result or a related finding.

The missing step. Nobody measured this in people for this use, or the study that did measure it did not show it.

What would change this

A study in people, for this exact use, measuring this exact thing, that a reviewer signs off.

RNAWiki has not yet published a reviewed conclusion for this use.

What is missing or unclearRead from sources, not yet reviewed

What nobody knows yet

Open questions, each with why it is open and what would close it.

How fast does the body clear it?

The sources RNAWiki checked hold nothing for this field.

Why it matters. Without this, nothing on this page can say how long anything lasts.

What would answer it

A stored source that records it, and a reviewer to sign it off.

Last checked 2026-09-04. Searched: The sources listed in the receipts at the foot of this page.

Missing populations

Which groups were under-represented in the studies has not been recorded.

Why it matters. Recorded by the evidence model as a gap on this record.

What would answer it

A study that measures it, and a reviewer to sign it off.

Last checked 2026-09-04. Searched: The sources listed in the receipts at the foot of this page.

Missing long-term data

No completed tested study window is recorded.

Why it matters. Recorded by the evidence model as a gap on this record.

What would answer it

A study that measures it, and a reviewer to sign it off.

Last checked 2026-09-04. Searched: The sources listed in the receipts at the foot of this page.

No reviewed conclusion

RNAWiki has not yet published a reviewed conclusion for this use.

Why it matters. Recorded by the evidence model as a gap on this record.

What would answer it

A study that measures it, and a reviewer to sign it off.

Last checked 2026-09-04. Searched: The sources listed in the receipts at the foot of this page.

Missing interaction studies

No interaction was found in the registers checked. Not finding one is not the same as showing there is none.

Why it matters. Recorded by the evidence model as a gap on this record.

What would answer it

A study that measures it, and a reviewer to sign it off.

Last checked 2026-09-04. Searched: The sources listed in the receipts at the foot of this page.

Formulation uncertainty

Several salts, forms or products of Methylprednisolone are recorded. Results from one form may not transfer to another.

Why it matters. Recorded by the evidence model as a gap on this record.

What would answer it

A study that measures it, and a reviewer to sign it off.

Last checked 2026-09-04. Searched: The sources listed in the receipts at the foot of this page.

Mechanism not reviewed

No reviewed mechanism story exists for this substance.

Why it matters. Recorded by the evidence model as a gap on this record.

What would answer it

A study that measures it, and a reviewer to sign it off.

Last checked 2026-09-04. Searched: The sources listed in the receipts at the foot of this page.

What happened in peopleRead from sources, not yet reviewed

Check any of this yourself

Every line above traced back to the study it came from. This is the technical layer, and the vocabulary changes here.

Every line above can be traced to the study named beside it. Follow the link and read it.

CRASH: more people died on methylprednisolone after head injury
In plain words
Steroids had been given after severe head injury for thirty years on the reasoning that they reduce brain swelling. A trial of just over ten thousand patients was stopped early because more of the people getting the drug were dying. The excess was still there six months later.
What was measured
All-cause mortality at 2 weeks and at 6 months, against placebo, in 10,008 randomised patients
Effect estimate
No reviewed effect estimate exists for this record.
Limits
This entry records a failure.
From the source
MRC CRASH randomised 10,008 adults with head injury and a Glasgow Coma Scale of 14 or less, within 8 hours of injury, to a 48-hour methylprednisolone infusion or placebo. Death from all causes within 2 weeks was 1,052 (21.1%) against 893 (17.9%), relative risk 1.18 (95% CI 1.09 to 1.27, P=0.0001). The increase did not differ by injury severity (P=0.22) or by time since injury (P=0.05). At 6 months, with data on 9,673 patients (96.7%), death was 1,248 (25.7%) against 1,075 (22.3%), relative risk 1.15 (95% CI 1.07 to 1.24, P=0.0001), and death or severe disability 38.1% against 36.3% (1.05, 0.99 to 1.10, P=0.079). The data monitoring committee stopped recruitment. The authors state the cause of the excess mortality is unclear.
Source
MRC CRASH Trial Collaborators, Lancet 2004;364:1321-1328 and Lancet 2005;365:1957-1959 (ISRCTN74459797)
Role in the trial
Not matched to a registered study
Identity check
no open identity hold
Audit mark
verified
Review state
Written into the record, not signed off as a reviewed claim
Acute spinal cord injury: a standard of care built on a subgroup, then withdrawn
In plain words
For more than twenty years, anyone with a fresh spinal cord injury was given high-dose methylprednisolone. The trial behind that practice reported a benefit only in patients treated within eight hours — a slice of the trial, not the trial. In 2013 the neurosurgical guideline reversed the recommendation entirely.
What was measured
That a timing-defined subgroup result in 487 patients established a standard of care — the field held that position for twenty-three years and then formally reversed it
Effect estimate
No reviewed effect estimate exists for this record.
Limits
See the technical detail.
From the source
NASCIS II randomised 487 patients with acute spinal cord injury to methylprednisolone, naloxone or placebo. The published benefit was confined to the subgroup treated within 8 hours of injury: at six months, motor function change scores of 16.0 against 11.2 (P=0.03), pinprick 11.4 against 6.6 (P=0.02) and touch 8.9 against 4.3 (P=0.03). Patients treated after 8 hours did not differ from placebo, and mortality and major morbidity were similar in all three groups. The 8-hour threshold was not the trial’s prespecified primary comparison, and the whole-cohort analysis did not show benefit. The 2013 AANS/CNS guideline on pharmacological therapy for acute spinal cord injury reviewed the accumulated evidence and issued a Level I recommendation that administration of methylprednisolone is not recommended, noting no Class I or Class II evidence of benefit and consistent Class I, II and III evidence of harmful side effects including death.
Source
Bracken MB et al., N Engl J Med 1990;322:1405-1411 (NASCIS II); Hurlbert RJ et al., Neurosurgery 2013;72 Suppl 2:93-105
Role in the trial
Not matched to a registered study
Identity check
no open identity hold
Audit mark
retracted
Review state
Written into the record, not signed off as a reviewed claim
The 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak: 749 infections and 61 deaths from one pharmacy
In plain words
A compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts made preservative-free methylprednisolone for spinal injections. Three batches were contaminated with fungus, visible in unopened vials. Seven hundred and forty-nine people across twenty states became infected and sixty-one died, most of them from meningitis, on average seven weeks after their injection.
What was measured
Confirmed fungal infections, deaths and strokes attributable to contaminated lots, in a public health outbreak investigation
Effect estimate
No reviewed effect estimate exists for this record.
Limits
This entry records a failure.
From the source
Following the September 2012 recall of three lots of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate from a single compounding pharmacy, more than 99% of 13,534 potentially exposed persons were contacted by 19 October 2012. As of 1 July 2013 there were 749 reported infections across 20 states with 61 deaths (8%). Laboratory evidence of Exserohilum rostratum was found in specimens from 153 patients (20%). Of 728 patients with additional data, 229 (31%) had meningitis with no other documented infection. Median age was 64 years, median number of implicated injections was 1, median incubation from last injection to first diagnosis was 47 days (range 0 to 249), and 40 patients (5%) had a stroke.
Source
Smith RM et al., Multistate Fungal Infection Outbreak Response Team, N Engl J Med 2013;369:1598-1609
Role in the trial
Not matched to a registered study
Identity check
no open identity hold
Audit mark
caution
Review state
Written into the record, not signed off as a reviewed claim
Multiple sclerosis relapse: the tablet matched the drip
In plain words
High-dose steroid for a multiple sclerosis relapse had always meant three days attached to a drip. A blinded French trial gave the same total amount by mouth instead. Eight in ten improved either way, and the difference was half a percentage point.
What was measured
Proportion improving by day 28 without corticosteroid retreatment, oral against intravenous, non-inferiority
Effect estimate
No reviewed effect estimate exists for this record.
Limits
See the technical detail.
From the source
COPOUSEP was a multicentre, double-blind, randomised non-inferiority trial at 13 French multiple sclerosis centres. 199 patients aged 18 to 55 with a relapse in the previous 15 days were assigned to oral or intravenous methylprednisolone 1,000 mg once daily for three days, with saline and placebo capsules maintaining blinding in both directions. In the per-protocol population, 66 of 82 (81%) in the oral group and 72 of 90 (80%) in the intravenous group met the primary endpoint of improvement by day 28 without retreatment, absolute difference 0.5% (90% CI -9.5 to 10.4), inside the prespecified 15% non-inferiority margin. Adverse event rates were similar; insomnia was more frequent orally (77% against 64%).
Source
Le Page E et al., Lancet 2015;386:974-981 (COPOUSEP, NCT00984984)
Role in the trial
Not matched to a registered study
Identity check
no open identity hold
Audit mark
verified
Review state
Written into the record, not signed off as a reviewed claim
Shortening a relapse is not the same as changing the disease
In plain words
High-dose steroid speeds recovery from a multiple sclerosis attack. It has not been shown to change how much disability a person accumulates over the years, and the trials that established the practice were not designed to look.
What was measured
That faster recovery from a relapse translates into less disability over decades — the measured endpoint is a functional score at 28 days, and nothing in these trials speaks to the longer question
Effect estimate
No reviewed effect estimate exists for this record.
Limits
See the technical detail.
From the source
The COPOUSEP endpoint was improvement of at least one point on the most affected Kurtzke Functional System Scale score at 28 days without retreatment — a short-term functional measure in a relapsing-remitting population. Neither that trial nor the intravenous-route trials it was benchmarked against were powered or designed to measure long-term disability accumulation, conversion to secondary progressive disease, or lesion burden years later. The claim that glucocorticoid treatment of relapses alters the long-run course of multiple sclerosis is a separate proposition from the one the trials tested, and it is the disease-modifying therapies rather than the relapse steroids that carry that evidence.
Source
Le Page E et al., Lancet 2015;386:974-981 (COPOUSEP)
Role in the trial
Not matched to a registered study
Identity check
no open identity hold
Audit mark
caution
Review state
Written into the record, not signed off as a reviewed claim
The epidural route is used far more than its evidence supports
In plain words
Depot methylprednisolone is injected into the space around the spinal cord for back and leg pain millions of times a year. No formulation of any steroid is approved by the FDA for that route, and the agency warned in 2014 that it can cause rare but serious neurological injury.
What was measured
That epidural corticosteroid injection is an established use of this product — it is an unapproved route carrying an explicit label warning about spinal cord infarction, paralysis, blindness and stroke
Effect estimate
No reviewed effect estimate exists for this record.
Limits
See the technical detail.
From the source
Methylprednisolone acetate is labelled for intramuscular, intra-articular, intralesional and soft-tissue injection. Epidural administration is not an approved route for it or for any other corticosteroid product, and the label for the acetate suspension states that it is not for intrathecal use. The label’s Warnings section carries a subsection headed "Epidural Administration" which states that serious neurologic events, some resulting in death, have been reported with epidural injection of corticosteroids — spinal cord infarction, paraplegia, quadriplegia, cortical blindness and stroke — with and without the use of fluoroscopy, and that the safety and effectiveness of epidural administration of corticosteroids have not been established and corticosteroids are not approved for this use. The practice continues at scale regardless.
Source
United States prescribing information for methylprednisolone acetate injectable suspension (DEPO-MEDROL), Indications and Warnings sections, "Epidural Administration"
Role in the trial
Not matched to a registered study
Identity check
no open identity hold
Audit mark
contested
Review state
Written into the record, not signed off as a reviewed claim
The harm signal in CRASH was not explained, only measured
In plain words
The trial that found methylprednisolone increasing deaths after head injury said plainly that it did not know why. That is unusual and it is honest. The excess did not track with how badly injured people were or how quickly they were treated.
What was measured
Subgroup interaction tests for injury severity and time to treatment on the mortality effect
Effect estimate
No reviewed effect estimate exists for this record.
Limits
See the technical detail.
From the source
In CRASH the relative increase in death did not differ by injury severity on the Glasgow Coma Scale (P=0.22) or by time from injury to randomisation (P=0.05), so the harm was not concentrated in a subgroup that could be excluded. The authors wrote that the cause of the rise in risk of death within 2 weeks is unclear. Candidate mechanisms discussed in the surrounding literature — infection, hyperglycaemia, gastrointestinal bleeding — were not established by the trial. What the trial establishes is the effect, not the mechanism, and the distinction matters because "we do not know why" is a different statement from "the effect is not real".
Source
MRC CRASH Trial Collaborators, Lancet 2004;364:1321-1328; Edwards P et al., Lancet 2005;365:1957-1959
Role in the trial
Not matched to a registered study
Identity check
no open identity hold
Audit mark
verified
Review state
Written into the record, not signed off as a reviewed claim
From "steroids reduce brain swelling, therefore they help brain injury" to the opposite
In plain words
Steroids genuinely do reduce the swelling around a brain tumour. The reasoning that they would therefore help a swollen injured brain held for three decades and was wrong: the two kinds of swelling are different, and the trial that finally tested the idea found more deaths.
What was measured
That the anti-oedema effect demonstrated around brain tumours transfers to traumatic brain injury — refuted at a relative risk of 1.18 for death, and the two oedema mechanisms are now understood to be different
Effect estimate
No reviewed effect estimate exists for this record.
Limits
See the technical detail.
From the source
Glucocorticoids reduce vasogenic oedema, which arises from a leaky blood-brain barrier around a tumour or abscess and is driven by VEGF and endothelial permeability. Traumatic brain injury produces predominantly cytotoxic oedema, which is intracellular water accumulation following energy failure, and there is no mechanism by which transcriptional suppression of inflammatory genes reverses it. The inference from one to the other was made in the 1970s, sustained by small trials and by physiological plausibility, and tested definitively only in 2004 in 10,008 patients, where it produced a relative risk of death of 1.18 at two weeks and 1.15 at six months. This is the clearest case in this batch of a mechanism-based inference surviving for decades because the trial to refute it was expensive.
Source
MRC CRASH Trial Collaborators, Lancet 2004;364:1321-1328; DEPO-MEDROL and SOLU-MEDROL United States prescribing information, Indications section
Role in the trial
Not matched to a registered study
Identity check
no open identity hold
Audit mark
verified
Review state
Written into the record, not signed off as a reviewed claim

Where else this substance is registered

FDA substance identifier (UNII)
X4W7ZR7023
CAS registry number
83-43-2
PubChem compound
6741
ChEMBL
CHEMBL650
ChEBI
6888
WHO international nonproprietary name list entry
732
RxNorm concept
6902
EMA substance identifier
100000091803
European Chemicals Agency number
201-476-4
DrugBank
DB00959

Checks this page had to pass

  • Passed

    Identity resolved

    no open identity hold

  • Passed

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    no quarantine open

  • Passed

    Every public sentence names a source

    The opening statement carries the origin: Written into the record, not signed off.

  • Not passed

    Trial roles classified for highlighted evidence

    No registered study is classified as testing this substance.

  • Passed

    No internal keys in reader text

    enforced by the copy-contract test over the rendered page

  • Not passed

    Safety mode resolved

    No register row and no identity class settled the question.

  • Passed

    Canonical metadata present

    slug and display name present

What is missing or unclearRead from sources, not yet reviewed

How this medicine reached us

Kept near the foot of the page. A historical event moves up only when it changes something about this substance today.

What the approval register records

  • 98 approved applications cover products containing this substance. The earliest was NDA011153, approved 19571024 to PFIZER.

    Drugs@FDA application register · NDA011153 · read 2026-08-29

  • Marketing status on the register: discontinued and prescription.

    Drugs@FDA application register · NDA011153 · read 2026-08-29

  • The earliest marketing start date recorded for a listed product is 19571024.

    FDA National Drug Code directory · 71872-7061 · read 2026-08-29

What is missing or unclearRead from sources, not yet reviewed

What to learn next

Ordered by what would most change how you read this page, starting with what is easiest to misunderstand.

This order is fixed in code and does not count clicks or time on the page.

What is not here

4 questions this page could not answer

These sections were prepared and left out because there was nothing to put in them. They are listed rather than hidden, so the gaps in this record are visible.

  • How long anything takes — found nothing in the sources checked.
  • What it may clash with — found nothing in the sources checked.
  • Other ways to the same goal — found nothing in the sources checked.
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The record as stored

The full record, for auditing

Everything above is built from what is below. This layer keeps the technical vocabulary, record identifiers and every stored row, so a reader who wants to check the page can.

The older medicine-wide conclusion held in this record

Written for a clinical reader, and about the medicine as a whole rather than about one indication, population and set of trials. RNAWiki does not treat it as a programme conclusion and no reviewer has signed it off in that form. It is here word for word because it is what the record holds.

Prednisolone with an added methyl group, formulated so that very large doses can be given intravenously — it shortens multiple sclerosis relapses with oral and intravenous routes proving equivalent in 199 randomised patients, and in the 10,008-patient CRASH trial it raised death within two weeks after head injury from 17.9% to 21.1% (relative risk 1.18, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.27, p=0.0001).

Recorded evidence blocks (12)

What did Methylprednisolone's largest trial (12000 people) and its longest (22 years) measure?


12000 people in Methylprednisolone's largest registered study, 22 years in its longest registered window, measuring Transplant-related mortality 100 days post-transplant. ClinicalTrials.gov · 2026-09-01

272 phase2, 175 phase3, 138 phase4, 88 na, 86 phase1, 33 na or unstated, 11 early phase1; NCT01177371; 2010-02. Last human test completed 2026, NCT07628166.

Interpretation These counts include studies where Methylprednisolone was a comparison treatment, a background treatment or an exposure in an observational study, and the longest window may be a planned end date. Trial roles have not yet been classified for this record.

Show the evidence
  • phase2
    272
  • phase3
    175
  • phase4
    138
  • na
    88
  • phase1
    86
  • na or unstated
    33
2 more recorded rows
  • early phase1
    11
  • Last recorded human test NCT07628166
    2026-04-09

recorded 2026-09-01 · last checked 2026-09-04

From mouse to human: where has Methylprednisolone shown lifespan?


mouse: mechanism-only, rat: mechanism-only, dog: mechanism-only and human: lifespan (723): the rungs where Methylprednisolone has a recorded finding. Europe PMC and ClinicalTrials.gov · organism ladder · 2026-09-01

Transplant-related mortality 100 days post-transplant — the recorded outcome words.

Yeast C. elegans Drosophila Mouse mechanism-onlyRat mechanism-onlyDog mechanism-onlyNon-human primate Human lifespan
Show the evidence
  • mouse
    mechanism-only
  • rat
    mechanism-only
  • dog
    mechanism-only
  • human NCT00066417
    lifespan; Transplant-related mortality 100 days post-transplant; 723

recorded 2026-09-01 · last checked 2026-09-04

112 of Methylprednisolone's trials stopped: safety, futility/efficacy, accrual/recruitment, funding/business, other?


safety (9), futility/efficacy (2), accrual/recruitment (50), funding/business (8) and other (43): Methylprednisolone's stop wording, clustered. ClinicalTrials.gov · 2026-09-01

"lack of inclusions"; 112 of 723 registered studies

Show the evidence

Trial

  • NCT00003682
    terminated; "lack of inclusions"
  • NCT00005641
    terminated; "low study accrual"
  • NCT00005852
    terminated; "low accrual"
  • NCT00006451
    withdrawn; "Terminated (due to no accrual)"
  • NCT00023244
    terminated; "Effective August 13, 2004: Unanticipated high incidence of post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorder"
  • NCT00037115
    withdrawn; "Lack of funding"
14 further recorded trials
  • NCT00066417
    terminated; "Trial was withdrawn for drug availability issues."
  • NCT00152620
    terminated; "study completed"
  • NCT00230035
    withdrawn; "Recommended by DSMB due to lack of accrual"
  • NCT00248534
    terminated; "slow accrual/lack of resources/low priority due to combining 2 consortia"
  • NCT00278564
    terminated; "high relapse rate"
  • NCT00290628
    terminated; "Replaced with another study"
  • NCT00298272
    terminated; "Sponsor decided to end long term extension phase for business reasons unrelated to safety."
  • NCT00310128
    withdrawn; "Drug supply unavailable"
  • NCT00346151
    terminated; "Stopping rule-acute rejection threshold-was met based on local biopsy results"
  • NCT00354172
    terminated; "Competing study was started."
  • NCT00381810
    terminated; "During a safety review of studies U2970g and U2971g, the Data Monitoring Committee recommended that enrollment in this extension trial be terminated."
  • NCT00424489
    terminated; "No participants enrolled for more than two years. No plan to continue study."
  • NCT00481832
    terminated; "Accrual Factor"
  • NCT00482053
    terminated; "Low accrual"

recorded 2026-09-01 · last checked 2026-09-04

Human studies of Methylprednisolone used Solu-medrol 125 mg — over how long?


Human studies of Methylprednisolone used "Solu-medrol 125 mg". ClinicalTrials.gov · 2026-09-01

20 recorded entries; human; injection; also "Methylprednisolone 40 mg", "Methylprednisolone 80 mg", "Tablet Methylprednisolone (4 or 16 mg)"

Show the evidence

human

  • NCT00307606
    Solu-medrol 125 mg
  • NCT00806871
    Methylprednisolone 40 mg
  • NCT00806871
    Methylprednisolone 80 mg
  • NCT00929981
    Tablet Methylprednisolone (4 or 16 mg)
  • NCT01106547
    Methylprednisolone 125mg
  • NCT01995019
    Depo-Medrol 40 mg/ml
14 more recorded rows
  • human NCT02242630
    Methylprednisolone, 20 mg
  • human NCT02242630
    Methylprednisolone, 40 mg
  • human NCT02578394
    Anakinra 100mg and Placebo Depo-Medrone
  • human NCT02578394
    Depo-Medrone 120mg and Placebo (Anakinra)
  • human NCT02798523
    Topical methylprednisolone (Advantan emulsion 0 /1%)
  • human NCT02867904
    injection; Methylprednisolone (40 mg depomedrol, 1ml, injection)
  • human NCT03152474
    Solumedrol 20mg
  • human NCT03794505
    depo-medrol 40 mg
  • human NCT04653415
    Methylprednisolone 125 mg
  • human NCT05339542
    MethylPREDNISolone 40 MG
  • human NCT05707572
    Depo-Medrone with Lidocaine (40mg + 10mg)/ml
  • human NCT05734625
    Methylprednisolone 40 MG Injection
  • human NCT05748561
    Methylprednisolone succinate 500 mg
  • human NCT05842681
    methylprednisolone 500 mg

recorded 2026-09-01 · last checked 2026-09-04

Which of 2 year event free survival, 2 year overall survival rate and acute rejections in all enrolled did Methylprednisolone's trials measure?


2 year event free survival, 2 year overall survival rate and acute rejections in all enrolled lead 40 outcome terms across Methylprednisolone's trials. ClinicalTrials.gov · 2026-09-01

Interpretation event free survival, maximum tolerated dose, overall response rate, rates of durable engraftment in, event free survival by disease assessment and event free survival after first randomization follow.

Show the evidence
  • vary by protocol
    1
  • clinical response
    1
  • overall disease survival
    1
  • event free survival
    1
  • maximum tolerated dose
    1
  • overall response rate
    1
14 more recorded rows
  • rates of durable engraftment in
    1
  • event free survival by disease assessment
    1
  • event free survival after first randomization
    1
  • disease free survival after second and third randomization
    1
  • incidence of primary graft failure
    1
  • hematopoietic recovery
    1
  • incidence of graft versus host disease
    1
  • rate of decrease of acute gvhd grade
    1
  • day 100 trm
    1
  • day 100 best response
    1
  • grade 3 stomatitis
    1
  • response rate
    1
  • minimal residual disease
    1
  • toxic death
    1

recorded 2026-09-01 · last checked 2026-09-04

Which of Methylprednisolone's 113 ongoing trials reports first?


113 registered trials of Methylprednisolone are open; earliest completion 2025-07-31. ClinicalTrials.gov · 2026-09-01

use exhaled nitric oxide as a surrogate marker of large airway vs small airway/lung inflammation following various doses of inhaled corticosteroids; Relapse-free Survival (RFS) After Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation; latest 2036-04-01

Show the evidence

Trial

  • NCT00576069
    "Mechanism(s)of Airflow Limitation in Moderate-severe Persistent Asthma"; n 60; "use exhaled nitric oxide as a surrogate marker of large airway vs small airway/lung inflammation following various doses of inhaled corticosteroids"; 2027-06
  • NCT00792948
    "Combination Chemotherapy With or Without Donor Stem Cell Transplant in Treating Patients With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia"; n 97; "Relapse-free Survival (RFS) After Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation"; 2027-01-06
  • NCT00882895
    "Tandem Stem Cell Transplantation for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma"; n 18; "Determine the event free survival"; 2028-06-01
  • NCT01624805
    "Methylprednisolone, Horse Anti-Thymocyte Globulin, Cyclosporine, Filgrastim, and/or Pegfilgrastim or Pegfilgrastim Biosimilar in Treating Patients With Aplastic Anemia or Low or Intermediate-Risk Myelodysplastic Syndrome"; n 140; "Achievement of response"; 2029-06-30
  • NCT02166463
    "Brentuximab Vedotin and Combination Chemotherapy in Treating Children and Young Adults With Stage IIB, Stage IIIB, IVA, or IVB Hodgkin Lymphoma"; n 600; "Event Free Survival (EFS), Where Events Include Disease Progression or Relapse, Second Malignancy, or Death"; 2026-10-03
  • NCT02464696
    "Non-invasive Ventilation in Reducing the Need for Intubation in Patients With Cancer and Respiratory Failure"; n 256; "Percent of patients who require intubation or meet criteria for intubation"; 2026-10-01
14 further recorded trials
  • NCT02558452
    "European Transplant Registry of Senior Renal Transplant Recipients on Advagraf"; n 1000; "Patient survival"; 2028-01
  • NCT02784210
    "Effect of Corticosteroids on Inflammation at the Edge of Acute Multiple Sclerosis Plaques"; n 30; "the presence or absence of a hypointense phase rim around each lesion followed over time"; 2028-12-31
  • NCT03007147
    "Imatinib Mesylate and Combination Chemotherapy in Treating Patients With Newly Diagnosed Philadelphia Chromosome Positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia"; n 352; "Disease free survival (DFS) of Randomized Arms (standard risk [SR] Philadelphia chromosome [Ph+] acute lymphoblastic leukemia [ALL] patients)"; 2027-08-14
  • NCT03098225
    "A Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy of Orbital Radiotherapy in Graves' Orbitopathy"; n 120; "Comparison of overall GO outcome determined using a composite evaluation"; 2027-03-31
  • NCT03110822
    "A Phase 1 Study of Ruxolitinib, Steroids and Lenalidomide for Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma (RRMM) Patients"; n 134; "Determination of maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of ruxolitinib in combination with steroids and lenalidomide [Tolerability]."; 2027-02
  • NCT03117010
    "Prospective Cohort for Adult Hemophagocytosis"; n 81; "Response"; 2028-12-31
  • NCT03219359
    "Autologous Stem Cell Transplant for Crohn's Disease"; n 50; "Change in Crohn's Disease Activity Index (CDAI)"; 2028-10
  • NCT03579875
    "Alpha/Beta TCD HCT in Patients With Inherited BMF Disorders"; n 48; "Grade II-IV acute graft versus host disease (GVHD)"; 2029-01-05
  • NCT03647852
    "Clinical Study on Strategy for Refractory Henoch-Schönlein Purpura"; n 150; "sustained abdominal pain relief"; 2026-10-30
  • NCT03952637
    "A Phase 1/2 Study of Intravenous Gene Transfer With an AAV9 Vector Expressing Human Beta-galactosidase in Type I and Type II GM1 Gangliosidosis"; n 54; "Safety"; 2028-01-01
  • NCT04127578
    "Phase 1/2a Clinical Trial of PR001 (LY3884961) in Patients With Parkinson's Disease With at Least One GBA1 Mutation (PROPEL)"; n 32; "Cumulative number of Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events (TEAEs) and Serious Adverse Events (SAEs)"; 2031-03-31
  • NCT04151082
    "High Dose Steroid Therapy (Prednisone or Methylprednisolone) for the Improvement of Symptoms of Late Radiation-Associated Lower Cranial Neuropathy in Oropharyngeal Cancer Survivors"; n 35; "Maximum tolerated dose"; 2027-07-31
  • NCT04216524
    "Venetoclax, SL-401, and Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm"; n 40; "Progression free survival (PFS)"; 2026-12-31
  • NCT04221477
    "A Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Obinutuzumab in Participants With ISN/RPS 2003 Class III or IV Lupus Nephritis"; n 271; "Percentage of Participants With Complete Renal Response (CRR)"; 2031-03-02

recorded 2026-09-01 · last checked 2026-09-04

Which running trial of Methylprednisolone could settle lifespan?


NCT05324748 measures mean number of days, from first injection until discontinuation, study participants remain using study medication (retention rate in survival curve), reading out 2026-06.

20 open trials; n 50; "Repeated GON Injections in CCH"

Show the evidence

Trial

  • NCT05324748
    "Repeated GON Injections in CCH"; n 50; "mean number of days, from first injection until discontinuation, study participants remain using study medication (retention rate in survival curve)"; 2026-06
  • NCT02166463
    "Brentuximab Vedotin and Combination Chemotherapy in Treating Children and Young Adults With Stage IIB, Stage IIIB, IVA, or IVB Hodgkin Lymphoma"; n 600; "Event Free Survival (EFS), Where Events Include Disease Progression or Relapse, Second Malignancy, or Death"; 2026-10-03
  • NCT04216524
    "Venetoclax, SL-401, and Chemotherapy for the Treatment of Blastic Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cell Neoplasm"; n 40; "Progression free survival (PFS)"; 2026-12-31
  • NCT06768294
    "Baricitinib in CPPD - the BAPTIST Study"; n 32; "The evaluation the effect of baricitinib on inflammation of the synovial membrane in CPPD"; 2027-01
  • NCT00792948
    "Combination Chemotherapy With or Without Donor Stem Cell Transplant in Treating Patients With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia"; n 97; "Relapse-free Survival (RFS) After Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplantation"; 2027-01-06
  • NCT04862221
    "TReatment for ImmUne Mediated PathopHysiology"; n 44; "Survival with native liver (SNL)"; 2027-02
14 further recorded trials
  • NCT00576069
    "Mechanism(s)of Airflow Limitation in Moderate-severe Persistent Asthma"; n 60; "use exhaled nitric oxide as a surrogate marker of large airway vs small airway/lung inflammation following various doses of inhaled corticosteroids"; 2027-06
  • NCT03007147
    "Imatinib Mesylate and Combination Chemotherapy in Treating Patients With Newly Diagnosed Philadelphia Chromosome Positive Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia"; n 352; "Disease free survival (DFS) of Randomized Arms (standard risk [SR] Philadelphia chromosome [Ph+] acute lymphoblastic leukemia [ALL] patients)"; 2027-08-14
  • NCT07202143
    "Methylprednisolone for Stroke With Large Infarct Core and Post-stroke Lymphocytopenia"; n 200; "All-cause mortality at 90 (±7) days"; 2027-09-30
  • NCT02558452
    "European Transplant Registry of Senior Renal Transplant Recipients on Advagraf"; n 1000; "Patient survival"; 2028-01
  • NCT00882895
    "Tandem Stem Cell Transplantation for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma"; n 18; "Determine the event free survival"; 2028-06-01
  • NCT07525466
    "Combination of Mitoxantrone Liposome and Etoposide, Dexamethasone, Pegaspargase and Golidocitinib (MEPL-G) in the Treatment of NK/T-cell Lymphoma Associated Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (NKTCL-HLH)"; n 25; "6-month overall survival (OS) rate"; 2028-09-30
  • NCT07357935
    "Early Inflammatory-Immune Stratification and Precision Glucocorticoid Intervention in Acute Respiratory Failure Induced by Community-Acquired Pneumonia"; n 500; "90-day all-cause mortality"; 2028-10-01
  • NCT05303792
    "Comparing Inotuzumab Combined With Low Intensity Chemotherapy Plus Blinatumomab to Usual Chemotherapy Plus Blinatumomab in Older Adults With CD22+ B-cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia"; n 68; "Event-free survival"; 2029-05
  • NCT06970743
    "A Study of BGB-16673 Compared to Investigator's Choice in Participants With Relapsed/Refractory Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia or Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma Previously Exposed to Covalent Bruton Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) Inhibitors"; n 153; "Progression-Free Survival (PFS) by IRC"; 2029-11-30
  • NCT06360458
    "Methylprednisolone Adjunctive to Endovascular Thrombectomy for Stroke"; n 928; "All-cause mortality at 90 (±14) days"; 2030-06-30
  • NCT06892197
    "Comparing Hydrocortisone and Prednisolone for Community Acquired Pneumonia (CAP)"; n 1600; "All-cause mortality"; 2030-11-01
  • NCT06717347
    "A Study to Evaluate Zilovertamab Vedotin (MK-2140) Combination With Rituximab Plus Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin, and Prednisone (R-CHP) Versus Rituximab Plus Cyclophosphamide, Doxorubicin, Vincristine, and Prednisone (R-CHOP) in Participants With Previously Untreated DLBCL (MK-2140-010)"; n 1046; "Progression-free survival (PFS)"; 2032-03-29
  • NCT07072585
    "Testing the Addition of Daratumumab to Chemotherapy for Treating Patients With Newly-Diagnosed T-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia (T-ALL) and T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma (T-LL)"; n 1708; "Event-free survival (EFS) in patients with newly diagnosed T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL)"; 2035-09-01
  • NCT07478003
    "Prehospital Pulse-dose Glucocorticoid in Patients With ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction 2 - The PULSE-MI 2 Trial"; n 5204; "All-cause mortality"; 2036-04-01

Which 213 trials of Methylprednisolone posted no result?


Posted no result
213 of 213 completed trials
Registrations
NCT03152474, NCT00004904, NCT00003662, NCT00004192, NCT00003960 and NCT00199576, and 207 more
Completion dates
oldest 2000-01; newest 2024-09-01
Show the evidence

Trial

  • NCT03152474
    2000-01
  • NCT00004904
    2000-07
  • NCT00003662
    2001-01
  • NCT00004192
    2001-03-16
  • NCT00003960
    2001-09
  • NCT00199576
    2002-01
14 further recorded trials
  • NCT00005988
    2002-03-08
  • NCT00002833
    2002-04
  • NCT00004232
    2002-10
  • NCT00002831
    2002-12-31
  • NCT00002471
    2003-01
  • NCT00002534
    2003-04
  • NCT00004255
    2003-05
  • NCT00002835
    2004-02-04
  • NCT00003215
    2004-03
  • NCT00000579
    2004-07
  • NCT00693381
    2004-08
  • NCT00053976
    2004-11
  • NCT00043147
    2005-01
  • NCT00261820
    2005-01

At the median, Methylprednisolone's trials enrolled 60 people — anything larger?


Median enrolment
60
Largest enrolment
12000
Registered trials counted
707

What do 27380 spontaneous reports say about Methylprednisolone — and not say?


These are reports people sent to a regulator. They do not show the medicine caused the reaction. Nobody counted how many people took the medicine and reported nothing. The same event can be reported more than once, and many reports are incomplete. News coverage, lawsuits and new warnings change how often people report. A count is not a rate and not a risk.

Methylprednisolone appears in spontaneous reports to regulators. Across the 10 most-reported reaction terms, 27380 reaction mentions were counted: rheumatoid arthritis 4289; alopecia 3180; abdominal discomfort 3062; febrile neutropenia 3032. open-targets-adr · CHEMBL650 · 2026-06-24

Show the evidence
  • rheumatoid arthritis
    4289
  • alopecia
    3180
  • abdominal discomfort
    3062
  • febrile neutropenia
    3032
  • systemic lupus erythematosus
    2611
  • pemphigus
    2586
4 more recorded rows
  • swelling
    2567
  • glossodynia
    2026
  • arthropathy
    2025
  • cytomegalovirus infection
    2002

recorded 2026-06-24 · last checked 2026-09-04

Was Methylprednisolone studied with fasting and exercise?


fasting and exercise are named in Methylprednisolone's label sentences: "Fasting glucose, lipids, insulin and NT-proBNP were measured at baseline, weeks 26 and 78 in 79 DMARD-naïve RA patients, free of CV disease, as part of a double-blind randomized controlled trial of MTX with either infliximab (IFX) or methylprednisolone as induction therapy." openfda-label+europepmc · 2016-09-16

2 recorded statements; fasting, exercise

Show the evidence
  • fasting
    Fasting glucose, lipids, insulin and NT-proBNP were measured at baseline, weeks 26 and 78 in 79 DMARD-naïve RA patients, free of CV disease, as part of a double-blind randomized controlled trial of MTX with either infliximab (IFX) or methylprednisolone as induction therapy.
  • exercise
    63 patients with non-specific LBP, with or without leg pain, and magnetic resonance images of paraspinal muscle degeneration only, were randomised to one of three treatment groups: A- Back education and standard physiotherapy for 10 weeks, B- Back education and gym ball exercise for 10 weeks or C- Perifacet injection into the lumbar multifidus muscle with methylprednisolone.

recorded 2016-09-16 · last checked 2026-09-04

What is recorded about Methylprednisolone and autophagy?


"In total, 84 significantly related drugs were screened for five key IVDD-autophagy genes in the diagnostic model, and three common autophagy-related target genes of methylprednisolone and glucosamine were predicted." — where Methylprednisolone and autophagy appear together. Europe PMC · pathway abstract search · 2025-10-17

autophagy; PMID 38041088, 41180179, 32064763

Show the evidence

autophagy

  • PMID 38041088
    "In total, 84 significantly related drugs were screened for five key IVDD-autophagy genes in the diagnostic model, and three common autophagy-related target genes of methylprednisolone and glucosamine were predicted."
  • PMID 41180179
    "Key findings include: (1) Glucocorticoids, exemplified by methylprednisolone (MP), suppress inflammation and reduce tissue damage but face skepticism over long-term benefits, with high-dose regimens correlating with significant adverse effects such as gastrointestinal bleeding, hyperglycemia, and metabolic complications; (2) Melatonin exerts multi-target neuroprotection by modulating autophagy,…"
  • PMID 32064763
    "In addition, the autophagy flux in the osteoblasts also increased and the ciliary length decreased in a time-dependent manner after Methylprednisolone treatment."

recorded 2025-10-17 · last checked 2026-09-04

Where it is registered
Identifiers, relations and other names

The exact record

ChEMBL id
CHEMBL650
PubChem CID
6741
CAS number
83-43-2
RxCUI
6902
InChIKey
VHRSUDSXCMQTMA-PJHHCJLFSA-N
Also called
6-methyl-prednisolone, 6-methylprednisolone, Metilprednisolona, corticosteroid, corticosteroids, cs, depo medrol, depo-medrone, depomedrol, gc, glucocorticoid, glucocorticoids
Development code
J3.872E, NSC-19987, U-67,590A
Trade name
Medrol, Medrone, Methylprednisolone component of neo-medrol, A-Methapred, M-Predrol, Medroloan SUIK, Medroloan II SUIK
Salt form
methylprednisolone acetate, methylprednisolone sodium succinate, oral steroids, SOLU-MEDROL(R) METHYLPREDNISOLONE SODIUM SUCCINAT, Medrol / Solu-Medrol / Depo-Medrol / A-Methapred / Methylprednisolone Sodium Succinate
Sources (10)

Sources

  • ClinicalTrials.gov clinicaltrials.gov ·
  • ClinicalTrials.gov ClinicalTrials.gov API v2 snapshot 2026-09-01T09:00:05 ·
  • this record's own fields 2,3,5 ·
  • Europe PMC dose-response search ·
  • Europe PMC pathway abstract search ·
  • Europe PMC search ·
4 more sources

ChEMBL ATC CC BY-SA · ClinicalTrials.gov — US Government work · Europe PMC — metadata only, under the recorded legal gate · Open Targets 26.06 — CC0 · derived from this page's own recorded fields; no external licence · mixed register set; per-register licences in docs/specs/corpus-20k-sources.md · openFDA / DailyMed — US Government work

How these records are assembled · Which registers were checked

Index-quality checks
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  • required summary fields resolved: 5 required field(s) not terminal: Why people use it, Best-supported result, Most important common problem, Biggest unanswered question, Human evidence
  • public claims reviewed: 0 reviewed claim(s); drafts are never rendered
  • source coverage passed: 10 source rows
  • no critical contamination: no quarantine open
  • canonical metadata passed: slug and display name present
  • no raw internal fields: enforced by the copy-contract test over the rendered page

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