methods for treating inflammatory conditions wherein the active agent is a polyamine having the formula set forth below : ## str1 ## or a salt thereof with a pharmaceutically acceptable acid wherein : r 1 , r 2 , r 3 and r 4 may be the same or different and represent h , straight - or branched - chain alkyl , aryl , aryl alkyl or cycloalkyl of 1 - 12 carbon atoms ; a , b , c and d may be the same or different and are integers from 0 to 8 , except that when a or c is zero , b or d is greater than or equal to 3 and when a or c is one , b or d is greater than or equal to 2 ; and x , y and z may be the same or different ; x and z are integers from 0 to 10 ; and y is an integer from 1 to 10 , excluding the polyamine of the formula wherein a = b = c = d = 2 , x = z = 2 and y = 4 .