didanosine

1 9.8

A medicine used to treat HIV that stops the virus from making copies

noun
/ˌdɪdəˈnoʊsiːn/

Specialized

: didanosina

In clinical studies, didanosine has shown effectiveness in reducing HIV viral loads.
didanosine (ddI)

Examples

The doctor prescribed didanosine as part of the patient's antiretroviral therapy for HIV.
The doctor prescribed didanosine for her HIV treatment.
Resistance to didanosine can develop if doses are missed regularly.
Side effects of didanosine may include nausea and abdominal pain.
Many patients take didanosine daily.
Didanosine is an antiviral drug that helps inhibit the virus responsible for HIV infection.
Doctors may prescribe didanosine to patients as part of their treatment regimen for HIV.

Synonyms

ddI

vsdidanosine

Specialized

1 9.2

A drug that treats HIV infection

is the full generic name rather than its abbreviated form

DDI

vsdidanosine

Archaic

1 7.2

A medicine that treats HIV by stopping the virus from copying itself

is written as the standard generic name rather than uppercase letters

dideoxyinosine

vsdidanosine

Specialized

1 9.9

A medicine that treats HIV by stopping the virus from copying itself

is the shorter pharmaceutical name used instead of the chemical term

Surface Forms

didanosine singular

didanosines plural

Morphology

didanosine = inosine (opaque) = dideoxy + inosine

The term is formed by adding a technical chemical modifier ('dideoxy-') to the biochemical base 'inosine'; this is clear to specialists but opaque to average learners unfamiliar with biochemical nomenclature.

Etymology

Didanosine comes from the parts di- 'two', deoxy 'without oxygen', and inosine, a natural building block of genetic material. Because it is an inosine with two 'deoxy' changes, it looks like the virus's building blocks but stops the virus from copying itself, so it is used as an antiviral drug for HIV.