Use of gp130 activators in diabetic neuropathy

1. A method for treating diabetic neuropathy, comprising causing an effective amount of a substance signaling through gp130 to enter the system of a patient in need thereof, wherein said substance

a) comprises interleukin-6 (IL-6);

b) is a fragment of a) which binds to gp80 and initiates signaling through gp130;

c) is a variant of a) which has at least 90% sequence identity with a) and which initiates signaling through gp130; or

d) is a salt, fused protein or functional derivative of a), b), or c) which initiates signaling through gp130.

2. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said fused protein is an immunoglobulin (Ig) fusion.

3. A method in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said causing step comprises administering to said patient a vector for inducing and/or enhancing the endogenous production of IL-6 in a cell.

4. A method in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said causing step comprises administering a cell that has been genetically modified to produce said substance.

5. A method according to claim 1 , wherein said fused protein is an IL-6 receptor fusion.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said substance is

a) an IL-6R/IL-6 chimera;

b) a fragment of a) which binds to and initiates signaling through gp130;

c) a variant of a) which has at least 90% sequence identity with a) and which initiates signaling through gp130;

d) salt, fused protein or functional derivative of a), b), c) which initiates signaling through gp130.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein said substance is a substance according to (a) or (b), or a salt thereof.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said substance is a substance according to (a), or a salt thereof.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said substance is IL-6, or a salt thereof.

10. The method of claim 1 , said vector comprising a coding sequence encoding said substance, and a promoter, functional in said cell, operably linked to said coding sequence, whereby said coding sequence is expressed and said substance is produced by said cell.

11. The method of claim 3 wherein the vector is a viral vector.

12. The method of claim 3 wherein the vector is a lentiviral vector.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the promoter is the cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter.

14. A method for treating diabetic neuropathy, comprising causing an effective amount of a substance signaling through gp130 to enter the system of a patient in need thereof, wherein said substance is:

a) interleukin-6 (IL-6);

b) a fragment of a) which binds to gp80 and initiates signaling through gp130;

c) a variant of a) which has at least 90% sequence identity with a) and which initiates signaling through gp130,

or a variant of a N-terminal truncation fragment of a) which binds to gp80 and initiates signaling through gp130, said fragment differing from a) solely by deletion of one or more consecutive amino acid residues from the N-terminal of a), said variant having at least 90% sequence identity with said N-terminal truncation fragment and said variant initiating signaling through gp130;

d) a fused protein comprising a), b), or c), that initiates signaling through gp130,

e) a salt or functional derivative of a), b), c) or d), which initiates signaling through gp130.

15. A method for treating diabetic neuropathy, comprising causing an effective amount of a substance signaling through gp130 to enter the system of a patient in need thereof, wherein said substance is:

a) interleukin-6 (IL-6);

b) a fragment of a) which binds to gp80 and initiates signaling through gp130;

c) a variant of a) which has at least 90% sequence identity with a) and which initiates signaling through gp130,

d) a fused protein comprising a), b) or c), that initiates signaling through gp130, or

e) a salt or functional derivative of a), b), c), or d), which initiates signaling through gp130.