Abstract

ANTIFUNGAL SUSCEPTIBILITY OF MALASSEZIA SPECIES ISOLATED FROM PITYRIASIS VERSICOLOR CASES

Remya V. S.*, Arun B., Sarala Devi, Deepak K. S. and Philip George Theckel

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the in vitro antifungal susceptibility of Malassezia spp isolated from PV cases against three commonly used antifungal agents, ketoconazole, itraconazole and fluconazole. Methods: Antifungal susceptibility was assessed using CLSI (Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute) broth micro dilution M27-A3 protocol (CLSI 2008) with fatty acid RPMI 1640. Result: All the tested Malassezia spp produced detectable growth after the incubation. The overall MICs range for fluconazole, itraconazole and ketoconazole were ≤ 0.125 – 16μg/mL, ≤ 0.03 – 1μg/mL and ≤ 0.03 – 8μg/mL respectively. Conclusion: High MICs and variability displayed in the antifungal activity of different antifungal drugs with inter-species variations of isolates from PV evinced the importance of performing the in vitro susceptibility of each species to capture reliable information for determining an effective treatment regimen.

Keywords: Pityriasis versicolor (PV), Malassezia, Antifungal susceptibility testing.