In vitro susceptibility of Malassezia furfur

Malassezia (M.) furfur is an anthropophilic fungus with complex growth requirements. Apart from its physiological appearance on human skin it is the causative agent of several skin disorders. A method for in vitro antifungal susceptibility testing of M. furfur in a microtiter plate assay has been developed. Read-out was performed colorimetrically in modified Leeming-Notman medium after incubation with alamarBlue. Twenty-two strains of M. furfur were tested, minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) were determined for climbazole, piroctone-olamine, selenium disulfide, zinc pyrithione. These substances are of common use in topical therapy of M. furfur-associated skin conditions. For climbazole, the range of MICs was between < 0.03 and 2 micrograms/ml with an empirical median mean of 0.03 micrograms/ml. For piroctoneolamine the range of MICs was between 16 and 64 micrograms/ml (mean = 64 micrograms/ml), for selenium disulfide between 2 and 64 micrograms/ml (mean = 8 micrograms/ml), and for zinc pyrithione between 0.12 and 8 micrograms/ml (mean = 1 micrograms/ml). These data indicate the high in vitro activity of climbazole against M. furfur, followed by zinc pyrithione. Selenium disulfide and piroctone-olamine were less active.