ANTIBODY AND USES THEREOF

1 - 14 . (canceled)

15 . An isolated monoclonal antibody against an interleukin 1 receptor antagonist, or IL-1RA, recognizing the peptide of amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 25, said antibody inhibiting the interaction between the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist and the interleukin-1 receptor, and having an affinity for the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist of less than 10 −8 M, measured by the OCTET technique,

or one of the derivative compounds or functional fragments of said antibody.

16 . The antibody according to claim 15 , recognizing a conformational or linear epitope of IL-1RA, said conformational or linear epitope comprising at least amino acid sequences SEQ ID NO: 36 and SEQ ID NO: 40 belonging to amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 25.

17 . The antibody according to claim 16 , wherein said conformational or linear epitope comprises at least sequences SEQ ID NO: 36, SEQ ID NO: 39 and SEQ ID NO: 40 belonging to amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 25.

18 . The antibody according to claim 16 , wherein said conformational or linear epitope further comprises amino acid sequences SEQ ID NO: 37 belonging to amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 25.

19 . The antibody according to claim 15 , comprising a light chain comprising at least one CDR of the group consisting of CDR-L1, CDR-L2 and CDR-L3, wherein:

CDR-L1 comprises one of the sequences SEQ ID NO: 1 (KSSQSLLNSSNQKNYLA), SEQ ID NO: 4 and SEQ ID NO: 7,

CDR-L2 comprises one of the sequences SEQ ID NO: 2, SEQ ID NO: 5, and SEQ ID NO: 8,

CDR-L3 comprises one of the sequences SEQ ID NO: 3, SEQ ID NO: 6 and SEQ ID NO: 9,

or one of its derivative compounds or functional fragments.

20 . The antibody according to claim 15 , comprising a heavy chain comprising at least one CDR of the group consisting of CDR-H1, CDR-H2 and CDR-H3, where

CDR-H1 comprises one of the sequences SEQ ID NO: 10 (EYTMH), SEQ ID NO: 13 and SEQ ID NO: 16,

CDR-H2 comprises one of the sequences SEQ ID NO: 11, SEQ ID NO: 14 and SEQ ID NO: 17,

CDR-H3 comprises one of the sequences SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 15 and SEQ ID NO: 18,

or one of its derivative compounds or functional fragments.

21 . The antibody according to claim 15 , said antibody comprising a light chain comprising:

the CDRs of sequences SEQ ID NO: 1 to 3, or

the CDRs of sequences SEQ ID NO: 4 to 6, or

the CDRs of sequences SEQ ID NO: 7 to 9.

22 . The antibody according to claim 15 , said antibody comprising a heavy chain comprising:

the CDRs of sequences SEQ ID NO: 10 to 12, or

the CDRs of sequences SEQ ID NO: 13 to 15, or

the CDRs of sequences SEQ ID NO: 16 to 18.

23 . The antibody according to claim 15 , said antibody comprising:

a variable part of the light chain comprising any one of the following sequences SEQ ID NO: 19 to 21, and

a variable part of the heavy chain comprising any one of the following sequences SEQ ID NO: 22 to 24.

24 . A Nucleic acid molecule coding for a light chain of the monoclonal antibody as defined in claim 15 .

25 . A Nucleic acid molecule coding for a heavy chain of the monoclonal antibody as defined in claim 15 .

26 . A method for treating an inflammatory, infectious or autoimmune disease, the method comprising the administration to an individual in a need thereof of an effective amount of one of:

an isolated monoclonal antibody against the interleukin 1 receptor antagonist, or IL-1RA, recognizing the peptide of amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 25, wherein the antibody inhibits the interaction between the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist and the interleukin-1 receptor, and has an affinity for the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist of less than 10 −8 M, measured by the OCTET technique, or a functional fragment thereof; and

a nucleic acid molecule coding for the isolated monoclonal antibody or the functional fragment thereof.

27 . A method for the diagnosis of an inflammatory, infectious or autoimmune diseases, the method comprising

bringing a biological sample from an individual suspected of suffering from the inflammatory, infectious or autoimmune disease into contact with an isolated monoclonal antibody against an interleukin 1 receptor antagonist, or IL-1RA, recognizing the peptide of amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO: 25, said antibody inhibiting the interaction between the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist and the interleukin-1 receptor, and having an affinity for the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist of less than 10 −8 M, measured by the OCTET technique,

detecting the presence or absence of, or the amount of, the IL-1RA protein in said sample, and

comparing the presence or absence of, or the amount of, the IL-1RA protein with the presence or absence of, or the amount of, the IL-1RA protein in at least one reference sample, whether it is a positive control or a negative control or both.

28 . The antibody according to claim 15 , said antibody comprising one of:

a variable part of the light chain of sequence SEQ ID NO: 19 and a variable part of the heavy chain of sequence SEQ ID NO: 22, or

a variable part of the light chain of sequence SEQ ID NO: 20 and a variable part of the heavy chain of sequence SEQ ID NO: 23, or

a variable part of the light chain of sequence SEQ ID NO: 21 and a variable part of the heavy chain of sequence SEQ ID NO: 24.

29 . The method according to claim 26 , wherein the inflammatory, infectious or autoimmune disease is a Lyme disease.

30 . The method according to claim 26 , wherein the inflammatory, infectious or autoimmune disease is a chronic disseminated form of Lyme disease.

31 . The method according to claim 27 , wherein the inflammatory, infectious or autoimmune disease is a Lyme disease.

32 . The method according to claim 27 , wherein the inflammatory, infectious or autoimmune disease is a chronic disseminated form of Lyme disease.