Ligands in the form of N-acetyllactosamines which bind to endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule-1 (ELAM-1) are disclosed. The ligand compounds can be formulated into pharmaceutical compositions and/or assay compositions used to alleviate inflammation and assay for the presence of (qualitative) and amount of (quantitative) ELAM-1 and thereby determine the presence, location and degree of inflammation. The ligands are encompassed by general structural formula I as follows: ##STR1## wherein one of A and B is hydrogen and one is an N-acetyl neuraminic acid residue; D and E are each independently hydrogen or a fucose residue; n is an integer of from 0 to 10 with the proviso that if n is 0, E is a fucose residue; F is hydrogen, a lactosylceramide residue or a linking group; and molecules equivalent to a compound of formula I regarding its ability to bind to an ELAM-1 receptor to the same degree as a compound of formula I.