Preparation and composition of inter-alpha inhibitor proteins from blood

1. A method for treating a disease associated with increased activity of a serine protease or decreased activity of a serine protease inhibitor or a symptom thereof in a subject comprising administering to the subject a composition comprising a first component comprising 85% to 100% IαIp proteins (IαIps) by weight admixed with a second component comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, wherein the composition is suitable for administration to a human, and wherein the IαIps are characterized as having increased binding to an anti-IαIp antibody selected from the group consisting of MAb 69.26 and MAb 69.31 in a competitive Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) as compared to IαIps not exposed to a wash buffer having a pH pf 4.0 or lower.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject is identified as in need of treatment with an IαIp.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the disease is acute inflammatory disease, sepsis, severe shock, septic shock, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, cancer metastasis, trauma/injury, infectious disease, or preterm labor.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the IαIps exhibit increased binding in a competitive ELISA of greater than 1-fold as compared to the IαIps not exposed to a wash buffer having a pH of 4.0 or lower.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the IαIps exhibit increased binding in a competitive ELISA of greater than 1.5-, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5-, or 10-fold as compared to the IαIps not exposed to a wash buffer having a pH of 4.0 or lower.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the IαIps are from blood, blood plasma, or a blood plasma fraction.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the IαIps have an apparent molecular weight of between about 60 kDa to about 280 kDa.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the IαIps have biological activity.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the biological activity is a cytokine inhibitor activity, a chemokine inhibitor activity, or a serine protease inhibitor activity.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the IαIps comprise inter-alpha inhibitor (IαI) or pre-alpha inhibitor (PαI).

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the IαIps comprise IαI and PαI.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the IαI and PαI are in physiological proportions.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the IαI comprises between about 60% to about 80% by weight of the IαIps in the composition and/or wherein the PαI comprises between about 20% to about 40% by weight of the IαIps in the composition.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method comprises administering a dose of the IαIps of about 1 mg/kg body weight to about 5,000 mg/kg body weight to the subject.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the method comprises administering a dose of the IαIps of about 1 mg/kg body weight to about 10 mg/kg body weight to the subject.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the subject is a human.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition consists of IαIps and a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the composition is administered to the subject once a week, once a day, once every two weeks, or once a month.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the IαIps are purified using a method that exposes the IαIps to a pH of about 4.0 or lower.

20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises administering a therapeutic agent to the subject.