Compositions and methods for treating inflammation and auto-immune diseases

1. A pharmaceutical composition dosage unit comprising an antibody or antibody fragment that selectively binds an epitope on soluble B7-H4 masked or absent on membrane bound B7-H4;

wherein the antibody or antibody fragment is present in the dosage unit in an amount effective to reduce or inhibit one or more symptoms of an inflammatory response in an individual in need thereof,

and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier for administration by injection of the dosage unit.

2. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 in a kit comprising the antibody or antibody fragment in a first unit and the pharmaceutically acceptable carrier in a second unit, wherein the units are combined for administration.

3. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 wherein the inflammatory response is associated with an autoimmune disease or disorder.

4. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 wherein the inflammatory response is neutrophil-mediated.

5. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 3 wherein the autoimmune disease or disorder is selected from the group consisting of rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, alopecia greata, anklosing spondylitis, antiphospholipid syndrome, autoimmune Addison's disease, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, autoimmune hepatitis, autoimmune inner ear disease, autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (ALPS), autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura (ATP), Behcet's disease, bullous pemphigoid, cardiomyopathy, celiac sprue-dermatitis, chronic fatigue syndrome immune deficiency, syndrome (CFIDS), chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, cicatricial pemphigoid, cold agglutinin disease, Crest syndrome, Crohn's disease, Dego's disease, dermatomyositis, dermatomyositis-juvenile, discoid lupus, essential mixed cryoglobulinemia, fibromyalgia-fibromyositis, grave's disease, guillain-barre, hashimoto's thyroiditis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP), Iga nephropathy, insulin dependent diabetes (Type I), juvenile arthritis, Meniere's disease, mixed connective tissue disease, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, pemphigus vulgaris, pernicious anemia, polyarteritis nodosa, polychondritis, polyglancular syndromes, polymyalgia rheumatica, polymyositis and dermatomyositis, primary agammaglobulinemia, primary biliary cirrhosis, psoriasis, Raynaud's phenomenon, Reiter's syndrome, rheumatic fever, sarcoidosis, scleroderma, Sjogren's syndrome, stiff-man syndrome, Takayasu arteritis, temporal arteritis/giant cell arteritis, ulcerative colitis, uveitis, vasculitis, vitiligo, and Wegener's granulomatosis.

6. A method for treating or inhibiting one or more symptoms of an inflammatory response in an individual in need thereof comprising

administering to the individual the pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 .

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the inflammatory response is associated with an autoimmune disease or disorder.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the individual has an autoimmune disease selected from the group consisting of rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, alopecia greata, anklosing spondylitis, antiphospholipid syndrome, autoimmune addison's disease, autoimmune hemolytic anemia, autoimmune hepatitis, autoimmune inner ear disease, autoimmune lymphoproliferative syndrome (alps), autoimmune thrombocytopenic purpura (ATP), Behcet's disease, bullous pemphigoid, cardiomyopathy, celiac sprue-dermatitis, chronic fatigue syndrome immune deficiency, syndrome (CFIDS), chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, cicatricial pemphigoid, cold agglutinin disease, Crest syndrome, Crohn's disease, Dego's disease, dermatomyositis, dermatomyositis-juvenile, discoid lupus, essential mixed cryoglobulinemia, fibromyalgia-fibromyositis, grave's disease, guillain-barre, hashimoto's thyroiditis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura (ITP), Iga nephropathy, insulin dependent diabetes (Type I), juvenile arthritis, Meniere's disease, mixed connective tissue disease, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, pemphigus vulgaris, pernicious anemia, polyarteritis nodosa, polychondritis, polyglancular syndromes, polymyalgia rheumatica, polymyositis and dermatomyositis, primary agammaglobulinemia, primary biliary cirrhosis, psoriasis, Raynaud's phenomenon, Reiter's syndrome, rheumatic fever, sarcoidosis, scleroderma, Sjogren's syndrome, stiff-man syndrome, Takayasu arteritis, temporal arteritis/giant cell arteritis, ulcerative colitis, uveitis, vasculitis, vitiligo, and Wegener's granulomatosis.

9. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 wherein the antibody or antibody fragment that binds to soluble B7-H4 is a xenogeneic, allogeneic, syngeneic, or modified forms thereof, such as humanized, single chain or chimeric.

10. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 wherein the antibody fragment is a Fab, F(ab′) 2 , or Fv fragment.

11. The method of claim 6 wherein the inflammatory response is neutrophil-mediated.

12. The method of claim 6 wherein the antibody or antibody fragment that binds to soluble B7-H4 is a xenogeneic, allogeneic, syngeneic, or modified forms thereof, such as humanized, single chain or chimeric.

13. The method of claim 6 wherein the antibody fragment is a Fab, F(ab′) 2 , or Fv fragment.

14. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1 wherein a biological sample from the individual is characterized by elevated levels of soluble B7-H4 compared to a biological sample from a normal individual.

15. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 14 wherein the biological sample is selected from the group consisting of blood, plasma, saliva, lymph, cerebrospinal fluid, and sputum.

16. The method of claim 6 wherein the individual is characterized by elevated serum levels of soluble B7-H4 compared to a normal individual.