 Because they suppress inflammatory pathways, long-term use of glucocorticoid drugs can lead to side-effects such as immunodeficiency and adrenal insufficiency.The main mechanism of glucocorticoids' anti-inflammatory effects is to increase the synthesis and function of annexin A1.Annexin A1 both suppresses phospholipase A2, thereby blocking eicosanoid production, and inhibits various leukocyte inflammatory events (epithelial adhesion, emigration, chemotaxis, phagocytosis, respiratory burst, etc.