Biochem/Physiol Actions | Cidofovir is a new anti-viral drug. It is classified as a nucleotide analogue and is active against herpes cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis infection. Most adults are infected with CMV. Cidofovir suppresses cytomegalovirus (CMV) replication by selective inhibition of viral DNA synthesis. Cidofovir Anhydrous is an anhydrous form of cidofovir, a synthetic, acyclic monophosphate nucleotide analog of deoxycytidine with antiviral activity, mostly used against cytomegalovirus (CMV). After incorporation into the host cell, cidofovir is phosphorylated by pyruvate kinases to its active metabolite cidofovir diphosphate. Cidofovir diphosphate, bearing structural similarity to nucleotides, competes with deoxycytosine-5-triphosphate (dCTP) for viral DNA polymerase and gets incorporated into the growing viral DNA strands. As a result, it prevents further DNA polymerization and disrupts DNA replication of viruses. |
