Mometasone Furoate

Key points

• As a nasal spray, mometasone furoate reaches a systemic bioavailability of less than 1% in the blood, so most of its action stays at the nasal lining.
• The liver breaks it down through the CYP3A4 enzyme pathway; taking it alongside ketoconazole or similar CYP3A4 inhibitors may raise its blood levels.
• Corticosteroids can slow growth in children, so height should be monitored during prolonged use of mometasone furoate nasal spray.

How does Mometasone Furoate work?

Mometasone furoate is a corticosteroid, the same family of medicines as hydrocortisone cream but more potent at the site where it is applied. It blocks the release of inflammatory chemicals called leukotrienes, the messengers that trigger swelling, itching and mucus production in the nose or skin.

Because it acts locally at the application site, it can reduce inflammation without the whole-body effects you get from steroid tablets. The nasal spray form puts mometasone furoate monohydrate on the nasal lining, while the cream forms sit on the skin surface where they calm the immune response driving eczema or psoriasis.

Brands and forms in this catalogue

Two of the three products are creams in a tube: Elocon, the brand-name cream for atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, and Melacare Forte Cream, which adds hydroquinone and tretinoin to target melasma. The third, Nasonex Nasal Spray, is the only spray form here and treats the nose rather than the skin. Elocon and Nasonex both come from the same molecule but reach different parts of the body, while Melacare Forte is the only product on this shelf that pairs mometasone with other active ingredients. The two cream products sit within Skin Care; the spray belongs to respiratory health.

Further reading

• NASONEX- mometasone furoate spray, metered
• Nasonex 50 micrograms/actuation Nasal Spray, Suspension
• Mometasone Nasal Spray: MedlinePlus Drug Information