In Vitro Azole and Amphotericin B Susceptibilities of Malassezia furfur from Bloodstream Infections Using E-Test and CLSI Broth Microdilution Methods

The number of reports of Malassezia furfur bloodstream infections is constantly increasing and there is a need for more simple antifungal susceptibility methods for their management. In this study, a total of 39 M. furfur isolates collected from hospitalized patients with fungemia were screened for antifungal susceptibility to azole and amphotericin B (AmB) using Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute broth microdilution (CLSI BMD) and E-test in Sabouraud dextrose agar + 1% Tween80 (SDAt) and mDixon agar (DIX). Essential agreement (EA) and discrepancies between the two methods were evaluated after 48 h and 72 h reading times. Itraconazole (ITZ) and posaconazole (POS) displayed the lowest MIC values whereas fluconazole (FLZ) and AmB the highest, regardless of the methods and the reading time. The EA between BMD was >95% for FLZ and voriconazole (VOR) regardless of the media in the E-tests and reading time. The EA between BMD with E-test for AmB was >97% only when E-test in SDAt was used. The EA between BMD and E-test for ITZ and POS varied according to the media in E-test procedures and the reading time and was higher than 66.6% (POS) or 72% (ITZ) only when SABt was used. Substantial discrepancies for ITZ and POS were >5.1% regardless of the media and the reading time. This study suggests that the E-test in SABt represents an alternative method to CLSI BMD to evaluate the susceptibility of M. furfur to FLZ, VOR and AmB and not for ITZ and POS.