Vitamin-D receptor expression in cutaneous warts

Background Warts are common viral skin infections with a high prevalence rate in both children and adults. Vitamin-D receptors (VDR) are expressed abundantly in the skin and affect cell differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis. Vitamin D is believed to regulate epidermal cell proliferation and formation of antimicrobial peptides. There is escalating evidence showing that vitamin D3 has a significant role in the immune-system regulation through VDR. Objective To study the expression of VDR in cutaneous warts. Patients and methods This cross section study included 30 patients of viral warts. Shaved biopsies were taken from the wart lesions and the perilesional skin. Immunohistochemical stain was done for demonstration of VDR expression using a scoring system, depending on the percentage of stained cells and the intensity of staining. Results The expression of VDR was markedly increased in wart lesions with a statistically significant difference between wart lesions and perilesional skin. There was no relation between the VDR expression in warts or perilesional area with different variables such as sex, age, number, size, site of warts or disease duration. Conclusion The high expression of VDR in cutaneous warts may be related to the epidermal hyperplasia in wart lesions that support the effectiveness of usage of intralesional vitamin-D injection in the treatment of warts. Further large scale studies may be needed to confirm the present results.