Isolation of Malassezia spp. in HIV-positive patients with and without seborrheic dermatitis

Abstract Background Malassezia, a skin saprophyte, is frequently isolated from patients with seborrheic dermatitis, which is one of the most common dermatoses in HIV-infected patients. Its role in pathophysiology has not been defined. Objective To determine whether patients living with HIV and seborrheic dermatitis have more Malassezia than those without seborrheic dermatitis. Method This is an descriptive, observational, prospective cross-sectional study to which all adult patients living with HIV that attend the infectious disease outpatient clinic at the Dr. Manuel Gea González General Hospital were invited. Patients presenting with scale and erythema were included in Group 1, while patients without erythema were included in Group 2. Samples were taken from all patients for smear and culture. Results Thirty patients were included in each group. All patients with seborrheic dermatitis had a positive smear, with varying amounts of yeasts. In the control group, 36.7% of patients had a negative smear. The results are statistically significant, as well as the number of colonies in the cultures.Study limitations The study used a small sample size and the subspecies were not identified. Conclusions Patients with clinical manifestations of seborrheic dermatitis have larger amounts of Malassezia. Further studies need to be performed to analyze if the greater amount is related to imbalances in the microbiota of the skin.

Caracterización de especies del género Malassezia en pacientes con dermitis seborreica y en controles / Characterization of species of the gender Malassezia in patients with seborrheic dermatitis and subjects without skin lesions

The yeast Malassezia spp has an established etiological role in pityriasis versicolor, folliculitis, systemic infections and onychomycosis. Aim: To assess the presence of Malassezia spp in patients with seborrheic dermatitis (SD), to find a correlation between Malassezia spp count and the severity of the disease and to compare the prevalence of the different Malassezia species in SD patients and subjects without skin lesions. Patients and methods: Scrapings of the face from 81 patients with SD (69 males) and 79 subjects (54 males) without skin lesions were obtained for a direct microscope examination and yeast culture. Results: The yeast Malassezia was found in 76% of SD patients and in 82% of subjects without skin lesions. There was a positive correlation between the number of yeasts found on direct examination and the clinical severity of lesions in SD patients. Although this correlation was statistically significant (p=0.046), the degree of association (rho=0.22) was weak. Fifty Malassezia species were identified. M globosa was found in 67% of SD patients, followed by M furfur and M sympodialis, each present in 16.5% of the SD patients. In subjects without skin lesions, the most prevalent species were M globosa (77%), followed by M sympodialis (12%), M slooffiae (7%) and M furfur (4%). Conclusions: The presence of the yeast Malassezia is not associated with the presence of skin lesions (Rev Méd Chile 2003; 131: 1295-300).

Reclassificação taxonômica de espécies do gênero Malassezia: revisão da literatura sobre as implicações clinicolaboratoriais / Reclassification of Malassezia species: a review of its clinical and laboratory significance

O gênero Malassezia compreende leveduras lipofílicas e lipodependentes que recentemente sofreram mudanças em sua classificação taxonômica, com a introdução de quatro novas espécies: M. globosa, M. obtusa, M. slooffiae e M. restricta, além das espécies M. furfur, M. pachydermatis e M. sympodialis, já descritas. Estas leveduras estão associadas a vários quadros patológicos que incluem infecções como a pitiríase versicolor ou dermatoses, como dermatite seborréica e dermatite atópica, entre outros. Estes quadros eram, até pouco tempo atrás, considerados devidos exclusivamente à espécie M. furfur. Essas mudanças na classificação taxonômica de Malassezia levaram a uma reavaliação dos procedimentos laboratoriais que eram utilizados para a identificação do agente etiológico. Entre eles podemos citar o estudo e a caracterização morfológicas das espécies, sua tolerância térmica, suas necessidades nutricionias para determinados tipos de ácidos graxos, bem como a composição e as características do DNA de cada uma delas

Dermatitis seborreica en Parkinson: correlación clínico-micológica en 30 casos y revisión de la literatura / Seborrheic dermatitis in Parkinson didease: clinical-mycologic correlation in 30 cases and review of the literature

Se presenta un estudio comparativo para investigar dermatitis seborreica (DS) y frecuencia de Pityrisporum en 30 pacientes de Parkinson en tratamiento con L-dopa y 30 enfermos con otros padecimientos neurológicos. En los primeros se presentó la DS con mayor extensión (97 vs 90 por ciento). La presencia de Pityrosporum en Parkinson fue de 90 por ciento y en controles de 70 por ciento; la positividad estuvo independiente de las manifestaciones clínicas. La biopsia de superficie con cianoacrilato y tinción de PAS, mostró mayor utilidad para la investigación de este hongo, que la tinción de Gram y el examen con cinta adhesiva transparente

Pitiríase versicolor: atualizaçäo bibliográfica / Tinea versicolor: bibliographic review

Com base em importantes trabalhos da literatura internacional realizados na última década sobre Pitiríase versicolor, os autores fazem uma extensa revisäo bibliográfica do tema, abordando especialmente aspectos históricos, etiológicos, etiopatogênicos, epidemiológicos, histopatológicos, clínicos, diagnósticos e terapêuticos

Datos sobre la ecología de pityrosporum en Venezuela / Data for the ecology of pityrosporum in Venezuela

Reportamos datos recogidos estudiando la presencia y la numerosidad de Pityrosporum ovale (Pov) y P. orviculare (Por) en muestras epicutáneas de 155 personas residentes en Venezuela: 128 muestras de cuero cabelludo (con dermatitis seborreica, 90; asintomático, 38), 77 muestras de conducto auditivo externo (43 signos de dermatitis y 34 asintomáticos) y 27 muestras de lesiones dermatológicas varias. Usamos cinta adhesiva transparente para tomar impronta de regiones planas; usamos cureta para raspar el oído. Teñimos con azul de metileno. Entre otras cosas, encontramos que: 1)Por y Pov se hallan casi con la misma frecuencia y abundancia en los cueros cabelludos de las personas con dermatitis seborreica que en los de las personas asintomáticas; 2) Por parece preferir oídos sintomáticos y Pov oídos asintomáticos. Los cocos no parecen tener preferencia; los bacilos prefieren los oídos asintomáticos. en conjunto, los datos recogidos no permiten atribuir la patogenia de la dermatitis seborreica directamente a la presencia y/o abundancia de Pityrosporum