Patent ID: 8404226

Claim:
A method for treating an inflammatory disease in a mammal, said method comprising administering to a mammal in need thereof a pharmaceutical composition comprising a prophylactically or therapeutically effective amount of a chemically modified erythropoietin and an anti-inflammatory agent or a prophylactically or therapeutically effective amount of a chemically modified erythropoietin and an immunomodulatory agent, wherein said inflammatory disease is stroke, wherein said chemically modified erythropoietin has a reduced level of in vivo erythropoietic activity compared to native erythropoietin as determined by the exhypoxic polycythemic mouse bioassay, and has tissue protective activity in vivo as determined by the middle cerebral artery occlusion test, and wherein said chemically modified erythropoietin comprises: i) a chemically modified arginine residue at position 31, 37, 41, 80, 103, 130, 137, 158, 166, 170, 177, 189, or 193 of SEQ ID NO:5; ii) a chemically modified lysine residue at position 47, 72, 79, 124, 143, 167, 179, or 181 of SEQ ID NO:5 or a chemical modified N-terminal amino group; iii) a chemically modified tyrosine residue at position 42, 76, 172, or 183 of SEQ ID NO:5; iv) a chemically modified aspartic acid or a glutamic acid residue at position 35, 70, 123, 150, 163, 192, 40, 45, 48, 50, 58, 64, 82, 89, 99, 116, 144, or 186 of SEQ ID NO:5; and v) a chemically modified tryptophan residue at position 78, 91, or 115 of SEQ ID NO:5, wherein the chemical modification results from one of the following chemical reactions: acetylation; carbamylation; succinylation; carboxymethyllysination; alkylation; nitration; iodination; biotinylation; a reaction with n-bromosuccinimide, chlorosuccinimide, vicinal diketone, or glyoxal; a reaction with R-glyoxal, wherein R is selected from the group consisting of aryl, heteroaryl, lower alkyl, lower alkoxy, cycloalkyl group, and alpha-deoxyglycitolyl; or a reaction with carbodiimide followed by reaction with an amine.