A case of imiquimod-induced alopecia

Abstract

Imiquimod cream 5% is an immune modifier approved for the treatment of genital warts, actinic keratosis, and basal cell carcinoma. This case report presents an isolated case of telogen effluvium after 6 weeks of imiquimod treatment for an actinic keratosis on the scalp. Based on this case presentation, telogen effluvium is a potential rare side effect from imiquimod treatment.

Acute Renal Failure Caused by Imiquimod 5% Cream in a Renal Transplant Patient: Review of the Literature on Side Effects of Imiquimod

“…The most common of those weird systemic side effects are influenza-like symptoms and headache. A review of the literature revealed lots of unusual adverse reactions related to the topical use of this drug, which are summarized in table 1[10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57]. …”

“…epidermoid cysts, alopecia or chronic neuropathic pain [23,45,57]. However, to our knowledge, acute renal failure caused by imiquimod in immunologically impaired patients has not been described in the literature.…”

Vaccine adjuvant platform and fluorescence imaging of amphiphilic γ-PGA-IMQ-LA-FL conjugates

“…Therefore, the FIP could be considered as a nontoxic, safety-acceptable and biocompatible adjuvant . 38,39 Also, IMQ just dissolve in acid solution, then further stimulate the body and has some safety risk. An effective solution to the problem is covalent ligation of IMQ to a larger carrier, which prevent them uncontrolled systemic distribution.…”

“…Figure 4. The cell viability of each sample with differentconcentration Pure IMQ has been reported to cause many adverse reactions, such as local skin inflammation, erosion and ulcer when injected skin 38,39. Also, IMQ just dissolve in acid solution, then further stimulate the body and has some safety risk.…”

Pharmacotherapy of Basal Cell Carcinoma, Anogenital Warts, and Actinic Keratoses: Focus on Topical Imiquimod

“…77 Several adverse events have been reported with the use of imiquimod, including pigmentary changes, superficial scarring, alopecia, 78 and rare induction of other dermatologic disorders such as pemphigus foliaceus, 79,80 aphthous ulcers, 81 vitiligo, 82-84 angioedema, 85 and eruptive epidermoid cysts. 86 Reports of induction of psoriasis associated with imiquimod have also been made.…”