Case Report
Anaphylaxis to husband's seminal plasma and treatment by local desensitization
1 Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Jeju National University, Jeju, Korea
2 Department of Parasitology, School of Medicine, Jeju National University, Jeju, Korea
3 Department of Urology, School of Medicine, Jeju National University, Jeju, Korea
4 Department of OB & GYN, School of Medicine, Jeju National University, Jeju, Korea
5 Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Jeju National University, Jeju, Korea
6 Department of Otorhinolaryngology, School of Medicine, Jeju National University, Jeju, Korea
Clinical and Molecular Allergy 2008, 6:13 doi:10.1186/1476-7961-6-13
Published: 5 December 2008Abstract
Hypersensitivity to human seminal fluid is rare but can be life threatening. We report a case of IgE-mediated anaphylaxis to seminal plasma that was diagnosed by skin prick tests and successfully treated by local desensitization. A 32-year-old woman suffering from angioedema and hypotension after exposure to semen was treated with epinephrine upon admission. Skin prick tests and immunoblotting for IgE binding components showed that she was sensitized to her husband's seminal plasma. Local desensitization, which persisted for six months, was achieved by intravaginal administration of serial dilutions of her husband's seminal plasma.
