Title: thalidomide
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - thalidomide
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.11299
Status: current

Definition
Teratogenic indole-based drug with sedative and anti-angiogenic properties.

Notes
1) The introduction of thalidomide for alleviating nausea in pregnancy in some countries in 1957 was soon linked to severe birth defects in the infant, with phocomelia being highly characteristic.
2) Currently, it is used successfully to treat and prevent the moderate to severe skin lesions caused by leprosy, and is used together with dexamethasone to treat multiple myeloma.

Related Terms
- Teratogenic: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11286
- angiogenic: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/10397
- birth defects: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/10459
- phocomelia: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11089
- pregnancy: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11116

Source
- PAC, 2016, 88, 713. 'Glossary of terms used in developmental and reproductive toxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2016)' on page 812 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-1202)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11299/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11299/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11299/xml

Citation: Citation: 'thalidomide' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.11299
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-05-10T15:08:25+00:00