Patent ID: 8029775

Claim:
A method for determining the optimum dose of an IL-31 agonist to treat asthma, airway hyper-responsiveness or allergic rhinitis comprising: a) taking a first sample of lung tissue or BAL fluid from a patient with asthma, airway hyper-responsiveness or allergic rhinitis; b) measuring the level of proinflammatory cytokines expressed in the first sample; c) administering an amount of the IL-31 agonist to the patient, wherein the IL-31 agonist is a polypeptide comprising amino acid residues 27-164 of SEQ ID NO:2; d) taking a second sample of lung tissue or BAL fluid from the patient; e) measuring the level of proinflammatory cytokines expressed in the second sample; f) comparing the level of proinflammatory cytokines expressed in the first sample to the level of proinflammatory cytokines expressed in the second sample; and g) determining the level of the IL-31 agonist that is sufficient to reduce the level of proinflammatory cytokines in the second sample.