title: Epidermodysplasia verruciformis: response to therapy with dialyzable leukocyte extract (transfer factor) derived from household contacts.
abstract: Dialyzable leukocyte extracts (DLE) have been used to treat a variety of antigen selective, and broad spectrum immunodeficiency diseases with sometimes encouraging results. We describe here the clinical and laboratory responses to DLE therapy of 2 patients with epidermodysplasia verruciformis (EV), a chronic cutaneous infection with a variety of human papilloma viruses. One patient with longstanding (30 yr) disease and no improvement to previous therapy showed gradual yet definite resolution of extensive verrucae planae, plaque, tinea-versicolor-like, and tumor lesions scattered over his entire integument. Cessation of DLE therapy for a short time resulted in recurrence of partially regressed lesions and also in the development of new tumors in this patient. The second patient, a grandson of the first patient, with minimal disease showed no progression of the disease during DLE prophylaxis. A third subject (brother of patient number 2) received no DLE and served as a control. All 3 subjects demonstrated severely depressed levels of suppressor T cells, a defect in cell-mediated immunity that has not been hitherto reported in patients with EV. Finally, evidence is presented for a possible X-linked recessive mode of inheritance for susceptibility to EV.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D027383:Papillomaviridae; D012874:Skin Diseases, Infectious / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology; D014165:Transfer Factor / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D014165:Transfer Factor