Zbigniew Karas*,† and Elzbieta Poreba‡
*Department of Radiobiology and Cell Biology, Karol Marcinkowski School of Medicine, Poznañz, Poland
†Allergology Outpatient Clinic, Dermatology Ward, Voivodship United Hospital, Poznañ, Poland
‡Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Poznañ, Poznañ, Poland
Condyloma acuminata of genital regions represent one of the most frequent sexually transmitted diseases (Wikström 1995). Among 70 types of human papillomavirus (HPV), types 6 and 11 are most frequently detected in condyloma acuminata, i.e., the same types that are demonstrated in flat condylomas of uterine cervix and in laryngeal papillomas. The viruses are thought to represent one of the significant factors in the pathogenesis of the conditions. Condyloma acuminata demonstrate frequent relapses despite surgical or podophyllotoxin treatment. They have also been noted to develop in patients with altered immune potential and in pregnant women, but in a proportion of such cases they spontaneously regress after delivery. These observations pose questions as to the pathways and mechanisms of infection, the site of virus latency in the human body, and the development of immune responses against the infecting HPV.
To investigate these questions, we analyzed DNA isolated from condyloma acuminata and the blood of the patients and from their sexual partners for the presence of HPV DNA sequences.
