Oral zinc sulfate treatment for viral warts: An open-label study

Abstract

Viral warts, which are caused by the human papilloma virus, are a common problem in dermatology. Various modalities have been used to treat warts, but none are uniformly effective or directly antiviral. Recent studies show that oral zinc sulfate could be effective in the treatment of viral warts. Thirty-one patients with multiple, non-genital viral warts were recruited in this open-label clinical study. The patients were treated with oral zinc sulfate (10 mg/kg to a maximum dose of 600 mg/day) for 2 months and followed up with assessments for the resolution of their warts and for any evidence of recurrence after treatment. Among the 31 patients, 18 patients showed low serum zinc levels (58%). Of 26 patients who completed the study (84%), 13 (50%) showed complete resolution of their warts after 2 months of treatment. Complete responders remained free of lesions at 6-month follow-up. No serious side-effects were reported apart from nausea (16%), mild gastric pain (3%) and itching sensation (3%). Oral zinc sulfate was found to be a good option in the treatment of viral warts, as it was safe and effective without important side-effects.

Comparative Study between Oral Zinc Sulphate, Amino Acids Chelated Zinc and Placebo in Treatment of Viral Warts

“…In contrast our results in patients group were lower than the findings of Al-Gurairi et al (4) , Sadighha (16) , Yaghoobi et al (6) , and Mun et al (17) who reported that 20/23 (86.9%), 10/13 (76.9%),25/32 (78.1%) and 13/26 (50%) respectively of patients group showed complete resolution of warts after 2 months of oral zinc sulphate also in Hassan et al (18) our results in patient groups treated with zinc were lower than the findings reported as…”

“…(4) and Mun et al (17) .Our control group results were different from the findings of Sadighha (16) , Yaghoobi et al (6) who reported that 1/13 and 3/23 from controls showed improvement of warts. Also Lopez-Garcia et al (15) reported that 3/25 of controls showed complete resolution of warts and another 3 showed improvement of warts.…”

“…This is similar to the findings reported by Al-Gurairi et al, (4) . On the other hand Mun et al (17) reported that younger patients responded better to treatment as 7/10 (70%) of pediatric patients compared to 6/16 (38%) in adult patients responded to treatment.…”

“…On another hand, in studies by A1-Gurairi et al , Sadighha (16) , Mun et al (17) and Lopez-Garcia et al (14) controls were healthy individuals which had higher baseline serum zinc level compared to baseline serum zinc level in patients with viral warts.…”

“…, Yaghoobi et al (6) , LopezGarcia et al, (15) , Sadighha (16) , and Mun et al (17) used oral zinc sulphate in a dose of 10 mg/kg/day (max. of 600 mg/day) for 2 months for investigating its role in treatment of multiple viral warts.…”