Antifungal Susceptibility of Malassezia pachydermatis Isolates from Dogs

The genus Malassezia belongs to Basidiomycota and includes 16 species, from which M. pachydermatis is the most common in dogs. M. pachydermatis is a member of the normal mycobiota of the skin and mucosal sites of dogs. Under certain conditions, these yeasts can be opportunistic pathogens and involved skin and ear canal infections of these animals. Topical and oral antifungal agents are used for the therapy of Malassezia dermatitis and otitis. With the expanding use of antifungal agents, resistant strains of Malassezia are increasingly detected. In this study, the susceptibility of 40 M. pachydermatis isolates to fluconazole, itraconazole, ketoconazole, clotrimazole and nystatin were evaluated in vitro based on the modified standard disk diffusion method M44-2A.