Isolation and identification of malassezia species from the patients referred with hypopigmented or hyperpigmented skin lesions

Malassezia species are lipophilic yeasts which are part of the resident skin flora of humans. These yeasts are associated with superficial diseases, such as pityriazis versicolor, seborrheic dermatitis, folliculitis and atopic dermatitis. Malassezia species can be identified by their morphological, pyhsiological and biochemical characteristics. In addition to these conventional methods, molecular typing methods, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which are being applied in recent years, can differentiate the species accurately.The objective of this study is the isolation of Malassezia yeasts from the hypopigmented or hyperpigmented lesions of the patients referred to Gazi University Hospital. The other aim is their identification on species level by molecular methods. Thirthy five patients with pityriasis versicolor were subjected in our study. Yeasts cells and pseudohyphae were seen in all samples taken from the patients under direct microscopic examination (100 %).Twenty six of the specimens (74.28 %) yielded Malassezia on Leeming Notman Agar. All isolates were identified by PCR. M. globosa was the most frequently isolated species (17; 65.38 %) followed by M. sympodialis (6; 23.8 %) and M. furfur (3; 11.54 %).The most important result of our study is the isolation of M. globosa as the most frequent cause of pityriasis versicolor characterized by hypopigmented or hyperpigmented lesions. Besides, species identification is possible by molecular methods such as PCR, without performing long and time consuming methods such as tween assimilation assays.