Adherence ofMalassezia furfurto human stratum corneum cellsin vitro: a study of healthy individuals and patients with seborrhoeic dermatitis

Abstract
The role of Malassezia furfur adherence to human stratum corneum cells in vitro was studied. The adherence assay was performed with one strain of M. furfur and stratum corneum cells from 30 healthy individuals and from 28 patients with seborrhoeic dermatitis. Stratum corneum cells from patients with seborrhoeic dermatitis contained significantly lower numbers of adherent M. furfur cells than cells from healthy individuals. No correlation was found with sex or age. The adherence assay was also performed with stratum corneum cells from one healthy individual and M. furfur strains from 15 patients with seborrhoeic dermatitis and 13 healthy controls. Malassezia furfur strains from patients with seborrhoeic dermatitis showed the same in vitro capacity for adherence to stratum corneum cells as strains from healthy individuals. This in vitro study does not indicate that M. furfur adherence to human stratum corneum cells is of importance in the pathogenesis of seborrhoeic dermatitis.