Patent ID: 7148197

Claim:
A peptide that ameliorates one or more symptoms of an inflammatory condition, wherein said peptide is a peptide of the formula: X 1 -X 2 -X 3 -X 4 wherein: X 1 and X 4 are independently selected from the group consisting of alanine (Ala), valine (Val), leucine (Leu), isoleucine (Ile), proline (Pro), phenylalanine (Phe), tryptophan (Trp), methionine (Met), serine (Ser) bearing a hydrophobic protecting group, beta-naphthyl alanine, alpha-naphthyl alanine, norleucine, cyclohexylalanine, threonine (Thr) bearing a hydrophobic protecting group, tyrosine (Tyr) bearing a hydrophobic protecting group, lysine (Lys) bearing a hydrophobic protecting group, arginine (Arg) bearing a hydrophobic protecting group, ornithine (Orn) bearing a hydrophobic protecting group, aspartic acid (Asp) bearing a hydrophobic protecting group, cysteine (Cys) bearing a hydrophobic protecting group, and glutamic acid (Glu) bearing a hydrophobic protecting group; and X 2 and X 3 are independently selected from the group consisting of Asp, Arg, and Glu, wherein when X 2 is an acidic amino acid; X 3 is a basic amino acid, and when X 2 is a basic amino acid X 3 is an acidic amino acid; said peptide converts pro-inflammatory HDL to anti-inflammatory HDL or makes anti-inflammatory HDL more anti-inflammatory; and said peptide does not consist of the amino acid sequence Lys-Arg-Asp-Ser (SEQ ID NO:238) in which Lys-Arg-Asp and Ser are all L amino acids.