4 interleukin 4 apc antigen presenting cells meba 2 4 morpholinyl ethyl butanamide hydrochloride beb 2 4 butanoylpiperazinyl ethyl butanoate hydrochloride meb 2 4 morpholinyl ethyl butyrate hydrochloride as used herein the term u201c individual u201d shall refer to animals and humans the present invention provides ester amide and ester amide derivatives of n butyric acid the general structures of the compounds of the present invention and synthetic schemes of said compounds are shown in fig1 these butyrate prodrugs contain an ionizable amino group which when converted to a water soluble salt increases the overall aqueous solubility the ester and or amide functional groups undergo hydrolysis to release butyric acid the optional substitution of the carbon adjacent to the x group by a methyl or ethyl provides steric hindrance thereby slowing the in vivo hydrolysis rate and increasing the half life of the parent compounds thus this sustained release of butyric acid coupled with a longer half life maintains a butyrate blood level over a longer period of time and increases the dosing interval the butyrate prodrugs and methods of the present invention may be used to inactivate antigen specific t cells thereby providing immunotherapeutic methods to treat autoimmune diseases to.