5-Aminovaleric acid has been identified as an important five-carbon platform chemical, which can be used for the synthesis of polymers and other chemicals of industrial interest as well.
In vitro: 5-Aminovaleric acid, a GABA analog, was reported to be able to inhibit GABA uptake, inactivate GABA aminotransferase, and could also both agonize and antagonize GABAb receptors. In addition, 5-aminovaleric acid has been found to be able to increase glutamine concentrations, thus possibly compensating for the decreased concentration of brain glutamine [1].
In vivo: Animal study found that 5-aminovaleric acid-treated rats showed a 3.5-fold reduction in the number of seizures than PBS-treated rats. In addition, both groups showed similar seizure frequency (~1 seizure/day). However, the fraction of the most severe type of seizures increased over time in the PBS treated group, but not in the 5-aminovaleric acid treated group. Moreover, 5-aminovaleric acid treated rats experienced a 2.3- and 2.6-fold lower fraction of stage 4 and 5 seizures than PBS-treated rats [1].
Clinical trial: Aminocaproic acid has been approved by FDA for the treatment of acute bleeding caused by elevated fibrinolytic activity. It has also been used for the prevention of recurrent hemorrhage in patients with traumatic hyphema [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aminocaproic_acid].
Reference:
[1] Dhaher R,Damisah EC,Wang H,Gruenbaum SE,Ong C,Zaveri HP,Gruenbaum BF,Eid T. 5-aminovaleric acid suppresses the development of severe seizures in the methionine sulfoximine model of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Neurobiol Dis.2014 Jul;67:18-23.