Investigation of fungal flora of the glans penis and the causes of balanitis/balanoposthitis in diabetic patients

Objective: This study aimed to examine glans penis samples from the diabetic population, whose prevalence is increasing worldwide, and to reveal the presence of both flora and fungal balanitis in these cases. Materials and Methods: Glans penis samples taken by the imprint method from 151 patients followed up with the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (DM), and a control group of 50 people without DM diagnosis were inoculated into modified Dixon agar (MDA) and CHROMagar™ Malassezia (CAM; Paris, France) media. Samples were incubated at 32°C for one week. Results: The age distribution of the patients did not show a statistically significant difference between the control and diabetes groups (p=0.759). Again, there was no difference between the groups according to marital status (p>0.999). Fasting blood glucose (ACS), HbA1c, insulin, HOMA-IR, and BUN were distributed at higher levels in the diabetes group (p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001, p<0.001 and p=0.032, respectively). There was no statistically significant difference between the groups regarding creatinine values (p=0.633). When the growth of MDA or CAM in the patients included in the study was examined, Malassezia or Candida grew in 93 (62%) patients in the diabetes group and 36 (72%) patients in the control group, and no statistically significant difference was found (p=0.18). When MDA and CAM were compared in terms of their growth, there was no significant difference between the groups. (p= 0.65/0.54). Balanitis was not observed in any of the patients included in the study. Conclusion: The high rate of Candida and Malassezia in the normal penile flora strengthens the idea that it may cause higher rates of balanitis in people prone to infections such as diabetes.