Are Hypercholesterolemia and Hypertriglyceridemia the potential risks for Superficial fungal Infections caused by Malassezia spp.?

Malassezia furfur, an opportunistic and lipophilic yeast, is etiologic agent of pityriasis versicolor and characterized by hypo or hyperpigmented scaly patches which appear principally in the trunk. Regarding the lipophilic characteristic of the yeast, this study was done to evaluate that dose hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia affect on incidence of pityriasis versicolor (P.V) or not? 1700 subjects ranging from 10 to 56 years old were evaluated in this cross sectional study in Golpayegan, Kashan and Meimeh cities in Isfahan province. Of total subjects, 102 individuals showed pityriasis versicolor which disease confirmation was based on clinical signs, sampling, inoculation and culture or Dixon media and sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA).Total cholesterol and triglyceride in patients and control group in fasting manner were measured by automated chemistry analyzer (RA 1000). Subject’s data such as job, age and hygienic level as well as personal habits were gathered by questionnaire. All data analyzed by t-student, Pearson correlation and Chi square tests and (P < 0.05) was considered significant. Prevalence of P.V was 6% in all age groups. The maximum and minimum prevalence rates of P.V were 2.8% and 0.7% at the age groups 2132 and 45-56, respectively. The maximum and minimum rates of total triglyceride were seen at the age groups 4556 and 920 with 175±14 mg/dl and 117±9 mg/dl, respectively. The maximum and minimum rates of total cholesterol were seen at the age groups 4556 and 920 with 240±21 mg/dl and 190±15 mg/dl, respectively. This study showed that hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia didn’t affect on incidence of P.V and positive correlation was not seen between P.V and hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia (P < 0.05),r = -0.095, r = -0.091.