European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine

Background: Malassezia spp. is part of the normal flora of the skin of human vertebrates and other warm-blooded vertebrates, it is associated with several diseases affecting human skin such as Pityriasis Versicolor (PV) which that often affects young adults of both females and males and can also affect children. The use of molecular methods has made great progress in the study of infections caused by Malassezia spp. because these species are variable in shape and difficult to identify according to colony shapes and micro and biochemical characteristics. Materials and Methods: This study included 87 specimens, 38 of females, a percentage of 43.7%, and 49 specimens of males, a percentage of 56.3%, and the ages ranged between (10-55) years from patients that diagnosis by the dermatological consultant at Al-Diwaniyah Teaching Hospital for the period from 1/10/2019 to 5/3/2020. Results: The results showed that the incidence of (PV) patients is the most common among patients aged 10-20 years, at a percentage of 45.9%, with significant differences at a probability level of 0.01, followed by patients between the ages of 30-21, at a percentage of 29.8% compared to other age groups. It was also observed, the incidence of (PV) is more common among patients with oily skin at a percentage of 60.9%, and the most isolated types are M. furfur and M. globosa for being lipophilic, followed by patients with normal skin at a percentage of 34.5% and patients with dry skin at a percentage of 4.6%. The results also showed that the incidence of (PV) is more frequent in patients who have a negative family history of the disease by 82.8% and those who do not have comorbidities, and by 94.3%, as for the status, duration, and severity of the disease, the results showed that the recurrent disease for less than 1 year of the severe type, it was the predominant among the other cases at rates of 58.6%, 41.4% and 37.9%, respectively. (PV) hypopigmentation also recorded the highest percentage among the infections with 54.0%, followed by hyperpigmentation at 39.1%, with significant differences compared to other injuries. The neck region is the most affected part of the rest of the body at a percentage of 36.8%, followed by the chest area by 23.5%, then the back area by 20.7%, and scaly infection was the highest percentage according to the type of infection, reaching 40.2%, followed by mixed infection, at 28.7%, with significant differences compared to other infections. The results of the phenotypic and genotypic diagnosis of the growing colonies indicated that M. furfur was the most common causative agent (34.4%), followed by M. globosa (25.2%), M. slooffiae (18.3%), and M. pachydermatis at a percentage of (5.7%). The phylogenetic tree was also analyzed, and the similarity ratios between the local strains and the globally registered strains in the NCBI were compared using the MEGA10 program. The isolated local species were also registered in the Genbank and provided with the accession numbers. Conclusions: Malassezia furfur was the predominant causative agent of (PV) followed by M. globosa, M. slooffiae, and M. pachydermatis. Males and females are affected by the infection of (PV). Individuals of the age group between (10-20) years have oily skin, have a negative family history, the duration of the disease is less than 1 year, and the recurrent condition is most