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Objective: To study the prevalence of tinea gladiatorum among young wrestlers and dermatophyte contamination of wrestling mats from Sari city, the capital of Mazandaran, a northern province of Iran. Design: 324 wrestlers (aged 9-20 years) from 7 active clubs in Sari city were examined, and skin scrapings were obtained from 135 wrestlers suspected of having tinea gladiatorum. The scraped skin samples were evaluated with potassium hydroxide. Pleated carpet sterile fragments (565 cm) were used for to survey of wrestling mat contamination. Sabouraud's dextrose agar with and without chloramphenicole and cyclohexamide was used to culture scrapings and wrestling mat samples. The dermatophytes were identified by routine laboratory techniques. Results: Our study showed that of the 324 wrestlers, 65 (20.1%) had tinea gladiatorum. Most lesions were on the trunk and head. All the wrestling mat samples were positive for dermatophytes. Trichophyton tonsurans was isolated from all the scrapings and wrestling mat samples. Conclusion: Considering that several colonies of T tonsurans were isolated from all the wrestling mats and from wrestlers with tinea gladiatorum (as the only dermatophyte species) we think that the contamination of wrestling mats with T tonsurans has a crucial role in the injection of wrestlers.T inea gladiatorum is a superficial dermatophytosis infection that is transmitted mainly through skin-to-skin contact among wrestlers. Several studies from around the world report the prevalence rates for tinea gladiatorum, 1 ranging from 20% in a Hungarian wrestling team 2 to 44.1% from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands. 3 Most studies that examined the prevalence of tinea gladiatorum were associated with an outbreak, such as in an Alaskan high-school team in 1992-3 when 75% of the wrestlers had tinea gladiatorum. 4 Adams 5 showed a prevalence of 24% in a Cincinnati high-school team without a known epidemic.Outbreaks of tinea gladiatorum due to Trichophyton tonsurans, an anthropophilic microorganism, have been reported, 3-9 but it seems that T tonsurans and T rubrum are the most prevalent agents of tinea gladiatorum. 10 Dermatophytes have been difficult to culture from wrestling mats, but, in two studies in France 8 and Sweden, 11 T tonsurans was isolated.Wrestling is a common sport among young people in Sari city, the capital of Mazandaran, a northern province of Iran. Sari city is located next to the Caspian Sea, and it has a temperate climate with high humidity. This condition can be an important predisposing factor for skin infection; so, for the first time, we studied the prevalence of tinea gladiatorum among young wrestlers and dermatophyte contamination of wrestling mats from Sari city. MATERIALS AND METHODSFrom November to March 2005, we examined 324 wrestlers (aged 9-20 years, mean 13.8 years) from seven active clubs in Sari city. All wrestlers were systematically examined, and skin scrapings were obtained from 135 wrestlers who had suspected tinea gladiatorum lesions. Microscopic examination of scraped skin sam...

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Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that PCR-RFLP is a relatively simple and quick method, completely comparable to the routine methods used for Malassezia identification.

The present study showed that tinea capitis is mainly due to the anthropophilic species, and the most common species were T. tonsurans and T. violaceum. Owing to the high frequency of anthropophilic species, future studies may be useful in the development of preventive and educational strategies to reduce healthcare expenditure.