In this study, researchers from The Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School in Israel examined the efficacy of acupuncture in treating persistent warts caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). The results of their study were published in the journal Medical Acupuncture.
- HPV infections can cause cutaneous warts. In these small skin lesions, viral manipulation creates a microenvironment that favors the survival and reproduction of HPV.
- While most lesions eventually regress due to TH1-mediated immune response, some fail and become persistent.
- The researchers recruited 18 patients with persistent warts; half of them received acupuncture treatment, while the other half received a placebo. The patients underwent treatment four times.
- The researchers measured the success of treatment on total clearance of all lesions and the absence of recurrence for three months.
- They reported that clinical success was 36.6 percent in the acupuncture group and 0 percent in the placebo group.
- Furthermore, interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels in the treatment group decreased.
- The researchers also found that IL-8, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a), IL-6, and interferon-gamma (INF-y) expression levels varied between patients who were cleared of warts and patients with unresponsive warts, although the differences were not always statistically significant.
- They noted the same differences in leukocyte levels.
- They reported that acupuncture eliminated persistent warts in some patients and induced changes in immunologic parameters.
Based on these findings, the researchers concluded that the clearance of persistent warts after acupuncture treatment may be due to a shift toward TH1 immune response or an anti-inflammatory effect on the virus-favored microenvironment in the skin lesions.
Read the full study at this link.
Journal Reference:
Brustin R, Toledano M, Geffen T, Goona R, Hochberg M, Kreisberg B, Murad S, Pitcovski J. IMMUNE MODULATION AND TREATMENT OF HUMAN PAPILLOMA VIRUS-RELATED WARTS WITH ENERGETICS OF LIVING SYSTEMS ACUPUNCTURE. Medical Acupuncture. 01 June 2017;29(3):145–154. DOI: 10.1089/acu.2017.1225