Glucocorticoid structure

Basic glucocorticoid structure and the chemical modifications (circled) that can be introduced to increase glucocorticoid and/or mineralocorticoid activity. The rings are lettered A through D. A solid line indicates that the group lies in front of the plane of the ring (beta position); a dashed line indicates that the group lies behind the plane of the ring (alpha position). A double bond in a ring (eg, between carbons 4 and 5) is referred to as "delta" (in this case, "delta-4").