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Glite Dictionary
dihydrostreptomycin

dihydrostreptomycin

9.5
A medicine that kills bacteria used to treat serious infections such as tuberculosis
  • noun
  • /ˌdaɪhaɪdroʊˌstrɛp.təˈmaɪ.sɪn/
  • Specialized
: dihidroestreptomicina
  • The doctor prescribed dihydrostreptomycin to treat her tuberculosis infection.

Examples

  • Streptomycin and dihydrostreptomycin, as all aminoglycosides, have some degree of toxicity to both the cochlea and the vestibule.

    Academic text (1998)

  • A minor chemical change to dihydrostreptomycin converted this vestibulotoxin to a cochleotoxin.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Researchers found that dihydrostreptomycin is effective against certain Gram-negative bacteria.

  • He learned that dihydrostreptomycin is derived from streptomycin and is used in antibiotic treatments.

Surface Forms

dihydrostreptomycin singular
dihydrostreptomycins plural

Morphology

dihydrostreptomycin = streptomycin (semi-transparent) = dihydro + streptomycin

Formally a productive chemical prefix meaning a hydrogenated derivative; the relation to 'streptomycin' is clear structurally but the technical prefix may be unfamiliar to non-specialists.

Etymology

Dihydrostreptomycin breaks into clear parts: di- meaning 'two', hydro- meaning 'water', strepto- meaning 'twisted', and -mycin a common ending for antibiotics. So, dihydrostreptomycin is simply a version of streptomycin changed by adding two hydrogens, which is why the name refers to that specific antibiotic.