Methods for treating il-31-mediated conditions in companion animals

Abstract

A method of treating a dog or cat having an IL-31-mediated pruritic or allergic condition is provided. The method includes administering to the dog or cat a therapeutically effective amount of an isolated antibody that specifically binds to at least one of a canine IL-31 or a feline IL-31.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of treating a dog or cat having an IL-31-mediated pruritic or allergic condition, comprising administering to the dog or cat a therapeutically effective amount of an isolated antibody that specifically binds to at least one of a canine IL-31 or a feline IL-31. 
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said antibody is a monoclonal antibody. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the antibody is chimeric. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the antibody is caninized or felinized. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said antibody reduces, inhibits, or neutralizes IL-31 activity in a dog or cat. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the IL-31-mediated pruritic condition is selected from the group consisting of atopic dermatitis, eczema, psoriasis, scleroderma, and pruritus. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the IL-31-mediated pruritic condition is atopic dermatitis. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the method comprises reducing the clinical manifestations of atopic dermatitis. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the clinical manifestations of atopic dermatitis are selected from the group consisting of itch, skin lesions, and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the IL-31-mediated allergic condition is selected from the group consisting of allergic dermatitis, summer eczema, urticaria, heaves, inflammatory airway disease, recurrent airway obstruction, airway hyper-responsiveness, chronic obstruction pulmonary disease, and inflammatory processes resulting from autoimmunity. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the antibody is administered parenterally, orally, or by topical administration. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the parenterally administered antibody is administered intraperitoneally, subcutaneously, intramuscularly, or intravenously. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the antibody reduces IL-31-mediated pSTAT signaling as measured by a cell-based assay. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the antibody is administered in combination with other therapeutic agents. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the antibody is administered in an amount from about 0.1 mg antibody per kg body weight to about 10 mg antibody per kg body weight. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the antibody is administered with a pharmaceutical carrier. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the antibody comprises at least one of the following combinations of complementary determining region (CDR) sequences:
 1) 11E12: variable heavy (VH)-CDR1 of SEQ ID NO: 1, VH-CDR2 of SEQ ID NO: 4, VH-CDR3 of SEQ ID NO: 7, variable light (VL)-CDR1 of SEQ ID NO: 10, VL-CDR2 of SEQ ID NO: 13, and VL-CDR3 of SEQ ID NO: 16; or   2) 34D03: VH-CDR1 of SEQ ID NO: 3, VH-CDR2 of SEQ ID NO: 6, VH-CDR3 of SEQ ID NO: 9, VL-CDR1 of SEQ ID NO: 12, VL-CDR2 of SEQ ID NO: 15, and VL-CDR3 of SEQ ID NO: 18; or   3) variants of either 1) or 2), wherein the variant comprises from about one to about ten substitutions in one or more CDRs of parent antibody 11E12 or 34D03.