Patent ID: 6939873

Claim:
A pharmaceutical composition, comprising as active material a non-sedative barbiturate, together with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, the composition being non-sedative and non-hypnotic when administered at a dose which is neuroprotective, the barbiturate having the structure wherein R 1 and R 2 may be the same or different and are independently lower alkyl, substituted by lower cycloalkyl, acyl, acyloxy, aryl, aryloxy, thioalkyl or thioaryl, amino, alkylamino, dialkylamino, or one or more halogen atoms; phenyl; C(O)XR 6 , wherein X is S or O and R 6 is lower alkyl or aryl; CXR 7 , wherein X is as defined above and R 7 is hydrogen, lower alkyl or aryl; and CH(XR 8 ) 2 , wherein X is as defined above and R 8 is a lower alkyl group, with the proviso that at least one of R 1 and R 2 is not hydrogen; and wherein R 3 and R 4 may be the same or different and are independently hydrogen; aryl optionally containing one or more heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, S, and O; lower acyloxy; phenyl substituted with lower acyl group or derivative thereof or acetamide; benzyl; benzyl substituted on the ring by one or more halogens, lower alkyl groups or both; cycloalkyl, which optionally contains one or more heteroatoms selected from the group consisting of N, O, and S; lower alkyl; or lower alkyl substituted with an aromatic moiety; provided that at least one of R 3 and R 4 is an aromatic ring or an aromatic ring containing moiety, and salts thereof, with the proviso that: when one of R 3 and R 4 is benzyl, the other of R 3 and R 4 is not ethyl; the compound is other than a) 1-methyl-5-(1-phenylethyl)-5-propionyloxy-barbituric acid, b) 1,3-diphenyl-5,5-(dibenzyl) barbituric acid, c) 1,3,5-triphenyl barbituric acid, and d) 5-benzyl-1,3-dimethyl barbituric acid.