Background: Malassezia species (spp.) are cutaneous opportunistic pathogens and associated with various dermatological diseases. Virulence traits include a variety of enzymes such as lipases, phospholipase, and hyaluronidase. Phenotypic determination of phospholipase production in isolates from diseased group can confirm the pathogenic potential of the enzyme.
Objective: To find out the presence of phospholipases activity in the isolates of Malassezia species from three dermatologic conditions, i.e., atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, and pityriasis versicolor; and comparative analysis with isolates from healthy host.
Materials and Methods: It was a prospective observational study conducted for a period 12-month to determination and quantify extracellular phospholipase activity (Pz) by the EGG Yolk-Agar method.
Results: Determination of extracellular Pz, by the EGG Yolk-Agar method was done on all the Malassezia isolates, for assessing its role as a potential virulence factor. Statistically significant results, for the phospholipase, were obtained in the patient group for Malassezia sympodialis.
Conclusions: The study demonstrated an association between pathogenic isolates and phospholipase production as compared to isolates from the healthy host. Such findings highlight the importance of phospholipase enzyme in virulence determination of a yeasts which is generally considered a commensal.
Key words: Malassezia sympodialis; Phospholipase; Extracellular; Dermatitis; Pityriasis Versicolor
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