Zidovudine

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A synthetic antiretroviral medication used primarily to prevent and treat infections caused by human immunodeficiency virus by inhibiting viral replication; it is classified as a nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor and is administered orally or intravenously
2. A pharmaceutical compound that functions by blocking the enzyme responsible for viral DNA synthesis, thereby reducing the proliferation of HIV within the body; often used in combination with other drugs for managing acquired immune deficiency syndrome
3. A drug designed to interfere with the lifecycle of HIV by mimicking natural nucleotides, preventing the virus from multiplying and aiding in the management and prevention of HIV infection in patients through various dosage forms

Etymology: Zidovudine is a name built from chemistry rather than from any everyday word. Its source is "azidothymidine," a long chemical name that describes the molecule: it is a thymidine (a nucleoside, one of the building blocks of DNA) in which an azido group, a chain of three nitrogen atoms, has been attached at one position. The shorter form was made by altering that longer name, shortening it into something easier to say and print. The longer name tells you most of what the drug does. Thymidine is the kind of molecule that viruses need to copy their genetic material, and the azido modification stops that copying process. The drug therefore acts as a decoy: once incorporated into the growing chain of viral DNA, it blocks further extension, which is why the class to which it belongs is called nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors.

Synonyms: azidothymidine, AZT