RNA interference mediated inhibition of interleukin and interleukin receptor gene expression using short interfering nucleic acid (siNA)

A chemically modified short interfering nucleic acid (siNA) molecule, wherein:

• (a) the nucleic acid molecule comprises a sense strand and a separate antisense strand, each strand having one or more pyrimidine nucleotides and one or more purine nucleotides;
• (b) each strand of the nucleic acid molecule is independently 18 to 27 nucleotides in length, and the sense strand is complementary to the antisense strand;
• (c) the antisense strand is complementary to a human interleukin-4 receptor (IL-4R) comprising SEQ ID NO:1833;
• (d) a plurality of the pyrimidine nucleotides present in the sense strand are 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro pyrimidine nucleotides and a plurality of the purine nucleotides present in the sense strand are 2′-deoxy purine nucleotides;
• and,
• (e) a plurality of the pyrimidine nucleotides in the antisense strand are 2′-deoxy-2′-fluoro pyrimidine nucleotides and a plurality of the purine nucleotides present in the antisense strand are 2′-O-methyl purine nucleotides.