Change in glucose metabolism after long-term treatment with deflazacort and betamethasone

We have compared the long-term effects of different corticosteroids on glucose metabolism by carring out a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test in 27 subjects before and after the administration of deflazacort or betamethasone for two months in random balanced sequence. Fasting plasma glucose and insulin concentrations were significantly higher after betamethasone, whereas deflazacort increased only fasting plasma insulin.