Efficacy and Safety of Topical Methotrexate Gel 1% Coupled With Microneedling in Treatment of Warts

Efficacy and Safety of Topical Methotrexate Gel 1% Coupled With Microneedling in Treatment of Warts : A Prospective Controlled Randomized Trial

To study the clinical efficacy of the topically applied MTX hydrogel preparation combined with microneedling to increase drug delivery and efficacy in comparison with cryotherapy in treatment of warts.

Warts are benign proliferation of skin and mucosa caused by the human papilloma virus (HPV). Currently, over 170 HPV types have been identified. Certain HPV types tend to infect skin at anatomical sites, for an example, palmoplantar warts are usually caused by Serotypes 1, 2, and 4; however, warts of any HPV type may occur at any site. Warts are transmitted by direct or indirect contact, and predisposing factors include disruption to the normal epithelial barrier.

There are several modalities for treatment of warts including cryotherapy, electrocoagulation, topical salicylic acid, topical 5-fluorouracil, and laser surgery. All these treatment options can be painful, time-consuming, and/or expensive, and none is considered the gold standard.

Treatments for warts have also included intralesional injections of tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD), measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine (MMR), and Candida albicans antigen (candidin). This treatment approach is known as intralesional immunotherapy as it is thought that these modalities activate the immune system to recognize the virus, leading to wart clearance

. MTX as an antimetabolite and antifolate drug is a time-tested effective treatment extensively used orally or parenteral in various autoimmune disorders like psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, alopecia areata, lupus erythematosus, and rheumatoid arthritis in low to moderate doses with good efficacy, safety, and tolerability on a long-term basis

MTX is appropriate for rapidly growing tumors since it inhibits DNA synthesis in actively dividing cells. MTX is a folic acid analog that binds to the dihydrofolate reductase, blocking the formation of tetrahydrofolate and preventing the synthesis of the purine nucleotide thymidine .

Antiviral effect of MTX was observed in the treatment of Zika virus infected cells explaining the antiviral effect of MTX through inhibition of dihydrofolate reductase ..

A literature review shows that intralesional MTX has been successfully used for several indications with no complications reported.

Unlike systemic MXT, topical preparations of the drug, that was adapted for the treatment of localized lesions, showed nonsignificant related hepatotoxic and hematologic adverse effects .

Previous studies used intralesional MTX injection in the treatment of viral warts with different concentrations and revealed that intralesional MTX was less effective in treating plantar warts .

Since MTX is used for various diseases via different routes of administration, the development of novel drug delivery systems to improve its pharmacokinetic properties and targetability is a necessary step for future investigations .

Controlling the burst release and the introduction of new routes of administration would be possible if the drug could be formulated using different delivery systems. Among various drug delivery systems proposed for MTX delivery, great attention has been directed to hydrogels due to their unique and attractive characteristics .

Microneedling is a fine needle that penetrates the skin to induce micro-injuries leading to production of collagen fibers and release of growth factors .

Microneedling has been used as an adjuvant therapy helping a drug delivery and also used in treatment of various dermatologic diseases .

In this study, the investigators chose the hydrogel formulation at a concentration of 1%w/v as a topical MTX form coupled with microneedling to increase the efficacy of methotrexate in treatment of warts. Hydrogel used will be optimized for biocompatibility, consistency and chemical compatibility with methotrexate.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients older than 18 years up to 60 years old.
• Patients with plantar or common warts.

Exclusion Criteria:

• pregnancy and lactation
• immunosuppression or being under any kind of treatment causing absolute or relative immunosuppression.
• history of any bleeding, clotting disorder or using anticoagulants.
• chronic systemic diseases such as chronic renal failure, hepatic insufficiency, and cardiovascular disorders.
• concurrent use of systemic or topical treatments of warts .