Intradermal Injection of PPD As a Novel Approach of Immunotherapy in Anogenital Warts in Pregnant Women

Immunotherapy for treatment of recalcitrant warts was used through different modalities including intralesional injection of purified protein derivative (PPD), which is an extract of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, used for testing exposure to tuberculin protein, either from a previous vaccination or from the environment. This method is used to evaluate the efficacy of a new approach of intradermal injection of PPD in the treatment of anogenital warts in pregnant women. A total of 40 pregnant women, aged 20-35 years, and presented with anogenital warts were enrolled in this study. Human papillomavirus (HPV) typing was done using the GP5+/GP6+ PCR assay. The patients were treated with weekly injections of PPD given intradermally in the forearms, and evaluated for the response regularly. HPV type-6 was the predominant genotype (67.5%). Overall, the improvement in this study was 85% and was related to the extent of tuberculin reactivity. Nineteen (47.5%) patients demonstrated complete clearance, 15 (37.5%) had partial response, and three (7.5%) had minimal response. Three (7.5%) cases did not respond to treatment. Side effects were minimal and insignificant. Treatment of anogenital warts in pregnant women with intradermal injection of PPD was found to be a unique, safe, and effective modality of immunotherapy.