A comparative study on peripheral blood lymphocyte subpopulations in different kinds of warts

Peripheral blood T-cell subpopulations were evaluated in 36 patients with clinically different types of warts, subdivided in 4 groups (common, genital, flat and plantar warts). A significant decrease was found in OKT3 and OKT4 subsets total count and in OKT4/OKT8 ratio in patients with common and genital warts as compared with controls. Only in common and genital warts did we also observe a significant decrease of percentage of OKT4 subset. No significant difference of considered parameters was observed in flat and plantar warts as compared to controls, apart from a significant increase in number of OKT8 subset in flat warts. We then discuss this different status of C.M.I. in patients with different clinical warts, stressing the importance of various types of HPV.