Prevalence of sensitization to Malassezia spp. in adults with atopic dermatitis and psoriasis and its correlation with disease severity.

Abstract

Fundamentals: Atopic Dermatitis (AD) and Psoriasis (PS) share clinical and physiopathological similarities. Objective: Determine the prevalence of sensitization to Malassezia spp. in adults with AD and PS and its correlation with disease severity. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from January 2016 to August 2017 with adults. Malassezia spp.-specific IgE dosages were measured, and skin scrapings for fungal culture performed. Parametric or nonparametric tests were used for analysis. Results: Median age of the 20 participants with AD was 29 years old, and the mean SCORAD was 45.35 ± 18.32. Malassezia spp.- specific IgE median dosage was 0.63 kU/l. M. furfur and M. sympodialis were isolated. Spearman’s nonparametric correlation analysis showed no correlation between sensitization to Malassezia spp. and disease severity. The median age of the 36 participants with PS was 61 years old, the median body surface area affected was 22%, and Malassezia spp.-specific IgE median dosage was 0.00 kU/l. M. furfur and Malassezia spp. were identified. Study limitations: Assessing the sensitization to Malassezia spp. was difficult due to the reduced number of participants in the study. Furthermore, there was no uniformity in the location to collect skin scrapings. The use of topical medication was not suspended before collecting skin specimens for mycological examination, therefore interfering with fungal isolation. Conclusion: Sensitization to Malassezia spp. was only detected in the AD sample. Malassezia spp.-specific IgE test did not prove to be a marker for disease severity in our AD sample.

Keywords

• Imunoglobulina E
• Malassezia
• Dermatite atópica
• Dosagem