Patent ID: 7833963

Claim:
A method for the treatment of an inflammatory disease or an inflammatory condition in a patient in need of such treatment, said method comprising either enteral or parenteral administration to said patient of an effective amount of an agent, wherein said agent is a component of bromelain comprising proteins having molecular weights of about 15.07 kDa, 25.85 kDa, and 27.45 kDa as determined by SDS-PAGE and having isoelectric points of 10.4 and 10.45, wherein said component of bromelain does not comprise a protein comprising an N-terminal amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 and having an isoelectric point of 9.7, and wherein said component of bromelain is obtainable by a method comprising: (i) dissolving bromelain in acetate buffer at pH 5.0, (ii) separating the components of the bromelain by fast flow high performance liquid chromatography on S-sepharose eluted with a linear gradient of 0 to 0.8 M sodium chloride in acetate buffer over 300 ml, (iii) collecting the fraction corresponding to a final double peak off the column, and (iv) isolating proteins from the fraction collected in (iii), whereby a protein comprising an N-terminal amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 and having an isoelectric point of 9.7 is absent from said component of bromelain, to thereby inhibit or suppress T cell activation in said patient, such that said inflammatory disease or inflammatory condition in said patient is treated.