Investigation of the Prevalence of Demodex spp. in Dermatological Diseases

Abstract

Objective: An increase in the counts of the Demodex mites that exist in the microbiota of healthy individuals may lead to some dermatological diseases. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of Demodex spp. among patients diagnosed with acne vulgaris, rosacea, perioral dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, eczema, and pityriasis folliculorum and the relationship between the demographic and clinical data of such patients and Demodex. Methods: This study included 144 patients (70 with acne vulgaris, 6 with pityriasis folliculorum, 15 with seborrheic dermatitis, 39 with rosacea, 8 with eczema, and 6 with perioral dermatitis) and 73 healthy subjects. We evaluated Demodex positivity using the standard superficial skin biopsy method in all groups. The presence of more than five Demodex mites per square centimeter was considered positive at the diagnosis. Results: Of the 144 patients included in the study, 107 (74.3%) were female, and 37 (25.7%) were male, while 40 (54.8%) of the 73 healthy subjects were female, and 33 (45.2%) were male. Twenty-one patients (14.5%) and five of the healthy subjects (6.8%) tested positive for Demodex. We found that Demodex positivity rates in the rosacea and acne vulgaris groups were higher than in the control group. However, this level was not statistically significant (p>0.05). We found the highest positivity rate among the patient groups in the pityriasis folliculorum (4/6, 66.7%), rosacea (8/39, 20.5%), and perioral dermatitis (1/6, 16.7%) groups. Lastly, we found no statistically significant relationship between the demographic and clinical characteristics of the groups and Demodex positivity (p>0.05). Conclusion: The present study is the only study that investigated Demodex positivity in six different dermatological diseases. Based on the results, we believe that investigating Demodex spp. positivity in dermatological diseases such as acne vulgaris, rosacea, and pityriasis folliculorum would be beneficial for early diagnosis and treatment.