Patent ID: 6943190

Claim:
A method for treating a cytokine-mediated inflammatory condition in a patient suffering therefrom, comprising: administering to said patient an effective amount of a composition comprising an ester of an alpha-ketoalkanoic acid selected from the group consisting of alpha-ketopropionic acid (pyruvate), alpha-keto-butyrate, alpha-ketopentanoate, alpha-keto-3-methyl-butyrate, alpha-keto-4-methyl-pentanoate or alpha-keto-hexanoate in a pharmaceutically acceptable inert carrier substrate, wherein the condition is selected from the group consisting of rheumatoid spondylitis, osteoarthritis, gouty arthritis, endotoxic shock, cerebral malaria, silicosis, pulmonary sarcoidosis, bone resorption disease, graft versus host disease, allograft rejections, fever and myalgia due to infection, AIDS related complex (ARC), Crohn's disease, rheumatoid arthritis, cachexia and septic shock.