Especies de Malassezia productoras de infecciones sistémicas y superficiales

GIUSIANO G; MANGIATERRA M; SOSA MA; BUSTILLO S

Anales de la Fundación Alberto J. Roemmers

Lugar: Buenos Aires; Año: 2005 vol. 16 p. 175 - 190

The genus Malessezia comprises lipophilic yeast that belong to the normal human cutaneous microbiota, but also associated with a variety of diseases, such as pityriasis versicolor, folliculitis, seborrheic dermatitis, atopic dermatitis and fungemia. This genus has recently been revised based in morphology, ultrastructure and physiology and enlarged to seven species: M. pachydermatis, M. furfur, M. sympodialis, M. slooffiae, M. obtusa, M. globosa, M. restricta. However, its epidemiology and the relation between species and pathogenesis is not yet clear. The purpose of this work is to study the ability of each species to cause superficial or sistemic infection. The species were recovered from catheters from pediatric hospitalized patients and  cutaneous lesions from adults and children. The identification of Malessezia species was performed according to the method devised by Guillot et all. 96 strain of Malassezia obtained from 92 patients with skin lesions were studied. M. globosa was the most frequent (44,8%), followed by M. furfur (19,8%), M. sympodialis (16,7%) and in lower percentage M. restricta (9,4%), M. slooffiae (8,3%) and M. obtusa (1%). M. globosa was the principal etiological agent of pityriais versicolor. M. globosa and M. furfur were  the most frequent species associated with the exacerbation of atopic dermatitis. M. globosa and M. restricta were the most prevalent in seborreic dermatitis and M. globosa was the principal species associated to folliculitis. 205 catheters obtained from 162 pediatrics patients in UCI and 43 oncologics were studied. Two strains, M. furfur and M. sympodialis, were isolated from UCI. This study is a contribution to the knowledge of pathogenic roles, ecology, prevalence of the seven species of Malassezia and also an orientation in diagnosis, prophylaxis and superficial and systemic Malassezia infections therapies.