| abstract |
A stable carboxylic acid diesterated with a hydroxyl compound is disclosed wherein the carboxylic acid is a pharmaceutically acceptable chelating agent for divalent metal ions of the general formula (HOOC-CH.sub.2.n .-). Sub.2.n.-NAN - (- CH in which A represents a saturated or unsaturated, aliphatic, aromatic or heterocyclic linking group which contains, in a direct bond, a chain between two designated nitrogen atoms of 2 to 8 carbon atoms in the a continuous chain that is interrupted by 2 to 4 oxygen atoms, with the member chains directly attached to the two designated nitrogen atoms not being oxygen atoms, and the hydroxyl compound is a pharmaceutically acceptable alcohol selected from a straight or branched chain saturated or unsaturated alkanol; , aminoalkanol and substituted or unsubstituted arylalkanol, and pharmaceutically acceptable salts of these diesterified carboxylic acids. Also disclosed is a pharmaceutical composition comprising said stable diester as an active ingredient and its use for treating diseases or disorders related to excess divalent metal ions, especially intracellular Ca.sup. ++. N. ions such as cerebral and cardiac ischemia, heart attack, myocardial infarction, epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, acute inflammation, urinary incontinence, prostate hypertrophy, muscular spasms, arterial hypertension, asthma, bowel irritation syndrome and cardiac arrhythmias. |