Comparison of the therapeutic effect of Euphorbia macrolada latex with standard keratolytic therapy on common warts: A randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial

Wart is one of the most common viral diseases of skin caused by human papilloma virus (HPV) and results in high costs for therapeutic, cosmetic and hygienic interventions. Euphorbia is an annual plant belonging to Euphorbiaceae family that has seventy species. All of them have latexes with high medicinal values. These plants have anti-viral and anti-tumor substances and 10 species of them are used in traditional medicine for treatment of ulcers, tumors, warts, and other diseases. In this study, the therapeutic effect of Euphorbia macrolada latex on common warts is compared with the standard keratolytic treatment. The latex of E. macrolada was prepared from Dehgolan region in Kurdistan Province and used directly. The standard keratolytic solution, which contained 16.7 g salicylic acid, 16.7 g lactic acid and up to 100 g collodion was prepared and delivered by the Hamedan Behzisti Pharmacy. A double-blind trial was conducted in Farshchian Hospital, Hamedan, Iran on 88 patients (44 in each group). They were instructed to apply the solutions on their warts twice daily for maximum of 8 weeks. All lesions in both groups were cured after 8 weeks. The meanstandard deviation (SD) of time to cure was 4.51.4 weeks in E. macrolada group and 5.11.6 weeks in the control group. None of these differences were statistically significant (P>0.05). No adverse effects was observed in any of patients. The findings indicated that E. macrolada had a therapeutic effect on common warts. Based on the results of this study, latex of this plant can be used as a complementary or alternative medicine in the treatment of patients with common warts.