Abstract:
The invention concerns methods of treating IL-1-mediated disease by administering a selective IL-1 binding agents that form an antagonist complex with the IL-1 ligand. The antagonist complex can bind to the IL-1 receptor without activating the receptor. The selective binding agents contemplated by this invention thus have the properties of free ligand absorption (through binding of the selective binding agent to free IL-1α or β) and receptor activation inhibition (through binding of the antagonist complex to the receptor and preventing its activation).