_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 184 https://www.id-press.eu/mjms/index ID Design Press, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences. 2019 Jan 30; 7(2):184-186. Special Issue: Vietnamese Dermatology https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2019.091 eISSN: 1857-9655 Basic Science Distribution of Malassezia Species from Scales of Patient with Pityriasis Versicolor by Culture in Vietnam Van Tran Cam 1 , Thuong Nguyen Van 1 , Khang Tran Hau 1 , Doanh Le Huu 1 , Phuong Pham Thi Minh 1 , Sau Nguyen Huu 1 , Thu Nguyen Minh 1 , Marco Gandolfi 2 , Francesca Satolli 2 , Claudio Feliciani 2 , Michael Tirant 3,4 , Aleksandra Vojvodic 5 , Torello Lotti 4 1 National Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology, Hanoi, Vietnam; 2 Unit of Dermatology, University of Parma, Parma, Italy; 3 University of Rome G. Marconi, Rome, Italy; 4 Psoriasis Eczema Clinic, Melbourne, Australia; 5 Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Military Medical Academy of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia Citation: Tran Cam V, Van TN, Hau KT, Huu DL, Thi Minh PP, Huu SN, Thu Nguyen M, Gandolfi M, Satolli F, Feliciani C, Tirant M, Vojvodic A, Lotti T. Distribution of Malassezia Species from Scales of Patient with Pityriasis Versicolor by Culture in Vietnam. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. 2019 Jan 30; 7(2):184-186. https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2019.091 Keywords: Pityriasis versicolor; Yeast; Malassezia spp. *Correspondence: Marco Gandolfi. Unit of Dermatology, University of Parma, Parma, Italy. E-mail: marco.gandolfi5@gmail.com Received: 02-Jan-2019; Revised: 16-Jan-2019; Accepted: 17-Jan-2019; Online first: 28-Jan-2019 Copyright: © 2019 Van Tran Cam, Thuong Nguyen Van, Khang Tran Hau, Doanh Le Huu, Phuong Pham Thi Minh, Sau Nguyen Huu, Minh Thu Nguyen, Marco Gandolfi, Francesca Satolli, Claudio Feliciani, Michael Tirant, Aleksandra Vojvodic, Torello Lotti. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) Funding: This research did not receive any financial support Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist Abstract BACKGROUND: The detection of pathogenic fungus is an important step and key to assessing the sensitivity of the antifungal drugs, and therefore choosing an effective treatment method. AIM: To identify Malassezia species from scales of a patient with pityriasis versicolor. METHODS: Three hundred patients with pityriasis versicolor who were positive with direct examination, were isolated by culture. RESULTS: Identification of Malassezia species by culture: the growth rate was 90.3%; the detection rate was 97.0%, including 11 species: M. globosa (42.4%), M. dermatitis (17.3%), M. furfur (14.4%). M. globosa was the most prevalent species in the 20-29 group 36.5%, in hyphae and yeast cells (42.2%). CONCLUSION: M. globosa is the main cause of pityriasis versicolor in Vietnam. Introduction Malassezia spp. Is lipophilic yeast which is of the normal cutaneous commensal flora on humans and animals. Malassezia includes 14 species in which M. globosa, M. furfur, M. sympodialis are the most common. Symptoms of Malassezia fungal diseases include pityriasis versicolor, seborrheic dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, Malassezia folliculitis, psoriasis, even skin cancer [1], [2] in all parts of the world, especially in tropical countries (18% of the population) [3]. In the world, depending on climate, geographic conditions, there is a difference between the distribution of Malassezia species in other areas. Therefore, we carried out a study to identify Malassezia species that caused pityriasis versicolor (PV) by the culture at National Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology (NHDV), Viet Nam. Methods A cross-section study of 300 patients with PV who had a positive direct examination test at NHDV from January 2016 to December 2016. Skin scales samples: Identification culture. MDixon media culture, SDA, TABLE 20, Tween 40, Tween 60, Tween 80, Malassezia Chromatase. Data were collected by SPSS 23.0 software and statistical tests study, to determine the incidence of Malassezia species.