Acetic acid derivatives having pharmacological activity and compositions containing the same

A pharmaceutical or veterinary composition having a competitive inhibitory activity with respect to .gamma.-aminobutyric .alpha.-ketoglutaric transaminase and antianoxic and anticonvulsant actions comprising as an essential active ingredient 3-n-propyl-hexanoic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable alkali metal salt thereof, in association with a pharmaceutical carrier or excipient therefor, in dosage unit form containing from 100 to 1000 milligrams of active ingredient per unit.

A pharmaceutical or veterinary composition having a competitive inhibitory activity with respect to .gamma.-aminobutyric .alpha.-ketoglutaric transaminase and antianoxic and anticonvulsant actions comprising as an essential active ingredient 4-n-propyl-heptanoic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable alkali metal salt thereof, in association with a pharmaceutical carrier or excipient therefor, in dosage unit form containing from 100 to 1000 milligrams of active ingredient per unit.

A pharmaceutical or veterinary composition having a competitive inhibitory activity with respect to .gamma.-aminobutyric .alpha.-ketoglutaric transaminase and antianoxic and anticonvulsant actions comprising as an essential active ingredient 5-n-propyl-octanoic acid or a pharmaceutically acceptable alkali metal salt thereof, in association with a pharmaceutical carrier or excipient therefor, in dosage unit form containing from 100 to 1000 milligrams of active ingredient per unit.

A method of inducing antianoxic and anticonvulsant actions and inducing inhibition of .gamma.-aminobutyric .alpha.-ketoglutaric transaminase comprising the administration to a subject in need of such treatment of an effective dose of at least one acetic acid derivative of the general formula:

• ##STR16## or a pharmaceutically acceptable alkali metal salt thereof, wherein R represents the radical ##STR17## in which R.sub.1 and R.sub.2, which may be the same or different, each represent an alkyl radical having from 1 to 4 carbon atoms, R.sub.3 represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl radical and n is an integer in the range of from 0 to 3 inclusive, said dose being in dosage unit form containing from 100 to 1000 milligrams of active ingredient.