Carriage ofMalasseziaspp. yeasts in cats with diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism and neoplasia

Abstract

The frequencies of isolation and population sizes of Malassezia spp. on skin and at mucosal sites in 16 cats with diabetes mellitus, 20 cats with hyperthyroidism and 8 cats with neoplasia did not vary significantly from those of healthy cats when measured with the use of contact plates and a swab technique. M. pachydermatis was isolated from nine sites in one cat with feline paraneoplastic alopecia and pancreatic adenocarcinoma, two cats with diabetes mellitus and five cats with hyperthyroidism. A polymerase chain reaction-restriction enzyme analysis (PCR-REA) method that differentiated the 11 species of Malassezia spp was used to identify the lipid-dependent isolates that were obtained from two cats with diabetes mellitus, two cats with hyperthyroidism and one cat with multicentric lymphoma. Six isolates had PCR-REA patterns that were indistinguishable from M. slooffiae CBS 7956 and three matched M. nana CBS 9557. Our data suggests that skin and mucosal counts of Malassezia spp. are not routinely increased in cats with diabetes mellitus or hyperthyroidism but we report a further example of an association between feline paraneoplastic alopecia and Malassezia spp. proliferation. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of the isolation of M. slooffiae from feline skin.

Carriage ofMalassezia spp.yeasts in healthy and seborrhoeic Devon Rex cats

“…noted that some M. slooffiae isolates may show weak or no growth in the presence of this substance as a rare deviation from the main pattern [39]. The variable growth of the M. slooffiae isolates obtained from the DRC in the presence of Tween 20 is in accordance with recent observations of isolates obtained from cats with diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism and lymphoma [7], and indicates that this phenotype is not infrequent amongst strains of M. slooffiae that colonize cats. used.…”

“…slooffiae has been isolated previously from the skin of an array of mammalian hosts, including humans [31 Á33], horses [34,35], cattle [36,37] and pigs [38]. In association with a recent report of the isolation of this species from cats with diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism and multicentric lymphoma [7], it would appear that the cat is also a host for this species of lipophilic yeast. The failure to isolate M. slooffiae from the axilla and groin of the subject cats might reflect either its absence from this anatomical location and/or the difficulty in detecting varied colony morphology when confluent growth of Malassezia spp.…”

“…Briefly, Malassezia spp. colonies that had been grown on modified Dixon's agar plates at 328C for 3 Á7 days were suspended in 600 ul of sorbitol buffer [7].…”

“…In common with many mammalian species, the skin of healthy cats is often colonized by members of the genus Malassezia [1 Á3], including the non-lipid dependent species, M. pachydermatis [1], as well as the lipiddependent M. sympodialis [1,2], M. globosa [3], M. furfur [4], M. nana [5,6], and more recently, M. slooffiae [7]. Dermatitis associated with Malassezia spp.…”

Carriage of Malassezia spp. yeasts in Cornish Rex, Devon Rex and Domestic short‐haired cats: a cross‐sectional survey

“…have questioned whether the genetic differences between them are sufficient to define them as separate species. The isolation of M. nana from the ear canal of six CRC not only supports a report of its isolation from the ear canal and claw fold of a hyperthyroid cat 8 but interestingly demonstrates identical D1/D2 sequences to those isolated from cats’ ears by Cabañes et al. , 6 suggesting that this yeast has adapted to the feline host.…”