Frequency and spectrum of Malassezia yeasts in the area of the prepuce and glans penis

Abstract

Objective To investigate the frequency and spectrum of lipophilic Malassezia yeasts within the area of the glans penis and preputial space in healthy men, most of whom were uncircumcised. Subjects and methods As the glans penis and the prepuce are abundant in sebaceous glands, 130 clinically healthy men were examined for the presence of Malassezia spp. Two impression preparations each were made on modi®ed Dixon (mDixon) and LeemingNotman agar. The media were used with no added cycloheximide to allow the identi®cation of the full spectrum of Candida yeasts. After 10 days of incubation at 32uC Malassezia and Candida yeasts were differentiated by micromorphological and biochemical criteria. Results Malassezia spp. were found as part of the micro¯ora of the glans penis in 49% of the men.The two media yielded comparable results for isolation frequency and spectrum: On mDixon agar, 47.6% of the isolates were identi®ed as M. sympodialis, 42.8% as M. globosa, 4.8% as M. pachydermatis and 2.4% as M. furfur. Candida spp. (especially C. albicans) were found in 20.8%. There were no signi®cant differences in the distribution of different Malassezia spp with age. Conclusions Malassezia yeasts may belong to the resident micro¯ora of the male genital region, which is supported by the ®nding that free sebaceous glands (`Tyson's glands') normally occur at this site. They may also be involved in pathological processes of the glans penis, e.g. balanitis, seborrheic eczema or psoriasis.

Infectious Diseases and Infestations of the Vulva

“…Warm, humid environment, hyperhidrosis, application of oily substances, malnutrition, and immunosuppression are some of the factors that increase the predisposition to an infection. Although we know that Malassezia colonize genitalia in nearly half of healthy men, we do not know the colonization frequency in females [ 123 ].…”

Skin diseases associated with Malassezia species

“…142 However, it has recently been suggested that the Malassezia yeasts may also play a role in psoriasis of the glans penis. 143 Clinically, the lesions of psoriasis may resemble those of SD; however, the histologic appearance of the lesions is distinct. Biopsy specimens taken from patients with SD show a spongiform appearance, 144 although older lesions may lose this characteristic and begin to resemble psoriasis.…”

Malassezia furfur fingerprints as possible markers for human phylogeography

“…Six out of seven Scandinavian M. furfur isolates formed Group IV with 35% homology forming a distinct cluster from Groups V and VI (20% homology) that included all Greek and the global selection of strains (Figure 1). The single M. furfur Scandinavian (GS1A) isolate that was grouped together with the Bulgarian isolates in Group I (37% similarity; Figure 1) could represent a transient member (Mayser et al, 2001) of the Malassezia skin flora. Figure 1 Rooted dendogram constructed using unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages (UPMGA) analysis of M. furfur microsatellite PCR fingerprints as generated by Bionumerics software.…”