Methods and compositions for treating inflammation or arthritis

Abstract

A method of treating inflammation or arthritis with metal complexes that can traverse skin and animal cell membranes intact and effectively deliver and release metal ions in a controlled manner upon demand at the targeted inflammatory or arthritic areas containing endogenous reacting moieties which demand the metal ions. The metal complexes have an aqueous proton induced dissociation property represented by a sigmoidally-shaped curve on a cartesian coordinate plot of the negative log of the metal ion concentration versus the negative log of hydrogen ion concentration. This dissociation property enables the metal complexes to release metal ions in a controlled manner upon demand at the targeted inflammatory or arthritic areas containing endogenous reacting moieties which demand the metal ions. The metal complexes can be effectively administered either topically or subcutaneously. Upon topical application, the metal complexes are dispersed in a vehicle to provide a buffered composition to neutralize the initial acidic layer of the skin. These unique and advantageous properties permit the metal complexes to be incorporated into vehicles with an adjusted pH minimizing premature release of the metal ions prior to reaching the targeted inflammatory or arthritic areas. Further, the metal complexes can be dispersed in a greaseless cold cream vehicle formulated to avoid or minimize undesirable chemical incompatibilities. An example of a topical composition employed is disodiummonocopper(II) citrate in an amount of about 10% w/w in a water-dispersible cream base vehicle comprising an oil-in-water emulsion having a pH of about 7.0.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.