Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Malassezia yeast imbalance in dogs with natural and allergy-triggered
By Meason-Smith, Courtney et al.·Published in Medical mycology·2020·Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Malassezia species dysbiosis in natural and allergen-induced atopic dermatitis in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study found that dogs with atopic dermatitis (a skin allergy) often have a higher amount of a yeast called Malassezia pachydermatis on their skin compared to healthy dogs. This yeast can cause skin infections and worsen the dog's condition. The research showed that healthy dogs had more of a different yeast, Malassezia globosa, which is associated with healthy skin. The findings suggest that managing skin lipids might help maintain a healthier balance of these yeasts and improve skin health in allergic dogs.
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Abstract
Malassezia dermatitis and otitis are recurrent features of canine atopic dermatitis, increasing the cost of care, and contributing to a reduced quality of life for the pet. The exact pathogenesis of secondary yeast infections in allergic dogs remains unclear, but some have proposed an overgrowth of M. pachydermatis to be one of the flare factors. The distribution of Malassezia populations on healthy and allergic canine skin has not been previously investigated using culture-independent methods. Skin swabs were collected from healthy, naturally affected allergic, and experimentally sensitized atopic dogs. From the extracted DNA, fungal next-generations sequencing (NGS) targeting the ITS region with phylogenetic analysis of sequences for species level classification, and Malassezia species-specific quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) were performed. M. globosa was significantly more abundant on healthy canine skin by both methods (NGS P < .0001, qPCR P < .0001). M. restricta was significantly more abundant on healthy skin by NGS (P = .0023), and M. pachydermatis was significantly more abundant on naturally-affected allergic skin by NGS (P < .0001) and on allergen-induced atopic skin lesions by qPCR (P = .0015). Shifts in Malassezia populations were not observed in correlation with the development of allergen-induced skin lesions. Differences in the lipid dependency of predominant Malassezia commensals between groups suggests a role of the skin lipid content in driving community composition and raises questions of whether targeting skin lipids with therapeutics could promote healthy Malassezia populations on canine skin.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31782778/