BRANCHED CHAIN AMINO ACID-DEPENDENT AMINOTRANSFERASE INHIBITORS AND THEIR USE IN THE TREATMENT OF DIABETIC RETINOPATHY

摘要

The present invention is directed to a method for the prophylactic and therapeutic treatment of diabetic retinopathy. The method involves the administration of an inhibitor of formulae (I), (II) and (III) of the branch chain amino acid-dependent aminotransferase (BCAT) pathway to an animal, such as a mammal, in particular a human, in an amount sufficient to treat the retina for diabetic retinopathy prophylactically or therapeutically. The present invention is also directed to several novel inhibitors of formula (IV) of the BCAT pathway. In formulae (I-IV), n, m, X and R1-R13 have the meanings given in the description.