Question

What does the word 'analogue' mean in HIV treatment?

17 January 2009. Related: All topics.

Answer

Answer: Simon Collins

Analogue (spelt analog in the U.S.) is a word the means ‘similar’ in terms of a being a copy of something.

The full name for the family of HIV drugs called ‘nukes’ is ‘nucleoside analogues’.

This means that the active ingredient of the drug is actually a copy of the genetic material (a nucleoside) used by the virus to reproduce.

The drug switches places with the natural nucleoside and blocks the reproduction process.

‘Nukes’ are also called Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors because they block the process called reverse transcription.