Dideoxynucleosides

Nucleosides that have two hydroxy groups removed from the sugar moiety. The majority of these compounds have broad-spectrum antiretroviral activity due to their action as antimetabolites. The nucleosides are phosphorylated intracellularly to their 5'-triphosphates and act as chain-terminating inhibitors of viral reverse transcription. This definition is taken from the National Library of Medicine's MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) 2026 release, which is the standard vocabulary used to index PubMed and most medical literature.

Yes. Dideoxynucleosides is also referred to as ddNus, 2',3'-Dideoxynucleosides, 2',3' Dideoxynucleosides, Dideoxyribonucleosides in different clinical, research and patient-facing contexts. The MeSH descriptor groups all of these synonyms under a single canonical concept so research and records stay consistent.

Dideoxynucleosides falls under the broader medical category "Chemicals and Drugs" in the MeSH hierarchy (tree numbers: D13.570.230.500). Browsing the related concepts on this page takes you to neighbouring topics in the same branch of medicine.

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