Small but Interesting POIS study from China

[Stef]

Hi All,

Here's a link to an abstract of a just-published article (1/29/15) from the Journal of Sexual Medicine -- http://t.co/wNtcN6t80K. The study title is, "Postorgasmic Illness Syndrome (POIS) in a Chinese Man: No Proof for IgE-Mediated Allergy to Semen." It was conducted at Peking Union Medical College Hospital in Beijing, China

The study was based on four Chinese men, one of whom was considered to have POIS. I'm guessing the diagnosis was based on symptoms, as there are no medical diagnostics yet for POIS. He -- along with the three healthy, non-POIS men (control subjects) -- were administered skin-prick tests AND intradermal allergy-testing injections of their own semen.

All four men developed what looked like "positive" allergic skin reactions to their own semen.  However, no semen-specific IgE antibodies to their own semen were detected in the serum of either the the POIS-affected patient or the healthy males, despite the skin reactions.

Abstracts contain only baseline information, and it would be helpful to know exactly what tests were performed, what the blood test results showed specifically, etc. I'd also find it very interesting to hear what the interpretation ultimately was of the allergic-appearing skin reactions that weren't backed up by serum evidence. Unfortunately, I don't have access to the entire study.

For a scientific clinical study to be definitive, the researchers must be able to replicate their findings in larger populations of affected people. So -- this is not to be considered THE ANSWER to the ongoing questions about semen allergy in POIS. 

But I found it interesting and hope you do also. 

Best wishes,
Stef

[BluesBrother]

I just read the article. Very interesting, indeed.

The article contains a section about potential inflammatory agents in semen (which cause skin reactions in both patients and controls):

Human seminal plasma has a variety of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines including TGF-β1, CXCL8 (ex-IL-8), GRO (CXCL1/Th17), monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP-1), IL-13, nd IL-17 [11], some of which can activate basophils or mast cells; for example, Conti et al. [12] showed that MCP-1 has chemotactic activity for mast cells and plays a fundamental role in the release of histamine. Geiser et al. [13] reported that IL-8 and GRO proteins were active toward basophils as indicated by chemotaxis and intracellular calcium changes in concentration. In addition to the presence of these immunologic factors in seminal plasma, high concentrations of spermine (2?15 mmol/L) were observed in seminal fluid
[14]. This may injure endothelial cells. Yang et al. demonstrated that 200 μmol/L exogenous spermine can induce injury to human umbilical vein endotheliocytes. It is here supposed that these substances may directly stimulate the skin and cause wheals and erythema when injected into the skin of both patients and healthy controls.

The article also suggests another hypothesis. I quote:

The symptoms of POIS are similar to those of ?opioid withdrawal syndrome,? which includes physical (flu-like symptoms, perspiration, and rhinitis) and psychological symptoms (anxiety, depression, and difficulty concentrating). These symptoms can last 2?7 days [15]. Opioids are involved in mediation of positive affective states generated by the execution of sexual behavior [16]. The μ-opioid receptors are thought to play a crucial role in controlling this behavior [17]. We supposed that patients suffering from POIS may have a disorder of the endogenous μ-opioid receptor system. Orgasm consumes large amounts of endogenous opioids in these patients, which causes a series of symptoms similar to opioid withdrawal symptoms. In addition, the patient was diagnosed with insomnia, anxiety, and slight obsessive?compulsive disorder; these psychological factors may increase awareness to body?s changes.

I also came across another article which discusses the usefulness of skin-prick tests for detecting immunology against semen:

Tal, Yuval, Jonathan A. Bernstein, Miriam Lorberbaum, Debajyoti Ghosh, and Zvi Dranitzki. ?Is Skin Testing Reliable for Confirming Sensitization to Seminal Fluid Proteins?? The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice 2, no. 6 (November 2014): 798?99. doi:10.1016/j.jaip.2014.08.006.

Unfortunately, I cannot access that article. If someone can, I'd be happy to have a look at it.

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2213219814003870

[Philt]

Did you manage to get the rest of the article?

** Also regarding this new information, has anyone tried using an Opioid antagonist? This might perhaps stop the reaction?

[Stef]

Hi All,

Dr. Bernstein has done several studies on semen allergy in women. The article cited by Bluesbrother (http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2213219814003870) might also be related to skin-prick testing in women only.

Dr. Bernstein's email address is onlne:  Jonathan.Bernstein@uc.edu. Perhaps ONE of you (Bluesbrother?) can contact him to ask if that semen allergy study was done on men. If yes, he might be willing to provide some of the details. Those study results are public information -- unfortunately the journal it's published in requires payment before one can access it.

From the little I know about Dr. Bernstein (very little!), he's a solid researcher who has expressed interest in studying the possibility of allergic components in POIS. There would be no harm in contacting him.

Stef

[Philt]

Whats the essential known facts regarding POIS being an allergic reaction to semen, or an issue of stimulation in the brain inducing a reaction of another type?

I am only new to this- looking for a direction.

Pros and cons based on fact ( or limited research ) if possible please.

[Quantum]

Whats the essential known facts regarding POIS being an allergic reaction to semen, or an issue of stimulation in the brain inducing a reaction of another type?

I am only new to this- looking for a direction.

Pros and cons based on fact ( or limited research ) if possible please.

Hi Phil , and welcome to the forum.

There is currently nothing proven yet about the cause of POIS.  Is it neurological, allergic, hormonal, or a mix of these ?  Nobody knows yet, because of so little research done on POIS ( but a study is currently ongoing, that has been funded by the members of this forum !).  However, you can read about the current opinions of the members, and then make up your own mind.  There are very interesting threads about this very subject.  For example, in last May, there have been an interesting discussion in the thread  "Allergy or neurological", that has been started as a poll by Labyrinth.  You can find this 4 pages thread at http://poiscenter.com/forums/index.php?topic=2078.0 .  I have described there in details my own vision of the physiopathology of POIS  ( based on my personal research), at http://poiscenter.com/forums/index.php?topic=2078.msg16431#msg16431 , so you can see this as my personal answer to your above question.

I think that reading all of this recent thread could be a good starting point for you.

[BluesBrother]

Dr. Bernstein's email address is onlne:  Jonathan.Bernstein@uc.edu. Perhaps ONE of you (Bluesbrother?) can contact him to ask if that semen allergy study was done on men. If yes, he might be willing to provide some of the details. Those study results are public information -- unfortunately the journal it's published in requires payment before one can access it.

Good suggestion, Stef. For now, I have asked a friend (medical doctor) to check whether she can access the article via her library subscription. If that doesn't work, I'm going to write Dr. Bernstein.

[Dragondd]

I did well when I read thoroughly and understand immediately that is good for us, especially me.

[Stef]

Good suggestion, Stef. For now, I have asked a friend (medical doctor) to check whether she can access the article via her library subscription. If that doesn't work, I'm going to write Dr. Bernstein.

BluesBrother and All,

BB has made a good point about library subscriptions! (Sorry for the belated response.)

If any of you can get to a hospital library -- preferably, a teaching hospital library -- the chances of them having the specific journal issue are high. You'd be able to read the full article -- even make a copy.

Full copies of copyrighted articles can't be posted here -- but you can quote some specifics.

Stef

[Limejuice]

Sorry for not replying sooner. I have been tested by Dr Bernstein.

Five years ago I came across his work on semen allergies in women, and at the time on TNS forum it was suspected that semen allergies might be causing POIS. Reaching out to the University of Cincinnati, where the labs were, and Dr Bernstein I told him my POIS issues that he'd never heard about and we discussed testing for a seman allergy, which he'd never tested for in a male. After much discussion he agreed to test me under certain conditions - one of which I pay $2k out of pocket for the test and another that I be tested for STDs (so that my samples would t contaminate his instrumentation. So we did it. I collected 5 semen samples and froze them, and drew blood work that was certrafused to remove platelets. I overnighted the samples in a temperature controlled package. He received the samples and ran semen allergy tests. A months later the tests were complete and add Bernstein emailed detailed results of the test.

The primary results showed that I wasn't allergic to my semen (no specific antibodies in blood matched the semen). However, there was a secondary lesser allergen that was showing positive. He told me not to worry about secondary results, that they weren't as important. I never followed up on those results either.

I still have those results today.

So that's my experience with the Dr. I'm sure he remembers it as he considered it unusual.

Let me know what questions you have.

Also I typed this on a phone so the grammer, spelling, and flow of thought might be confusing.

[Stef]

Limejuice -- very interesting! Thanks for posting!

Stef

[demografx]

Hi Limejuice,

Your contributions to forum knowledge -- for many years -- have been the best.

Thank you again,
demo

[Quantum]

The primary results showed that I wasn't allergic to my semen (no specific antibodies in blood matched the semen). However, there was a secondary lesser allergen that was showing positive. He told me not to worry about secondary results, that they weren't as important. I never followed up on those results either.

I still have those results today.

Hi, Limejuice,

In your results, does it tell what is this secondary lesser allergen which was showing positive for you?

[Limejuice]

Thx Demo, Stef. Us old timers must pass history along.

Quantum, the results don't specifically identify an allergen but show that there could be one. The results are displayed as an image of a gel electrophoresis and along that path Dr Bernstein somehow highlighted an area that created a positive, but secondary, result. The results include an electrophoresis for a controlled sample, a sample that was positive for semen allergy, and my sample (which didn't look like either...).

[demografx]

I am only new to this- looking for a direction.

Hi Philt,

Belated

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[FloppyBanana]

Hi Dionis,

How did Homeopathy save your life?
FB

[FloppyBanana]

Hi Dionia,

Thanks for your response. Which homeopathic remedies do you take?

FB

[FloppyBanana]

You're welcome!

As you maybe know homeophaty is individual science,so cure that worked for me can cause problems for someone else,and vice-verse.
So my advice to everyone is to be very careful with homeophaty.
I had some side effects because I used some drugs more then I should.
I can send you in PM
some links about homeopatic cures that worked for me if you want.But like I said if you want to give a
chance to homeophaty ,pls do not try anything without homeophathic doctor.
I saw your description,could you please tell me something about Mytelase?

Hey,
If you type "mytelase POIS" into google you will find it!
Cheers - FB