Postorgasmic illness syndrome: semen allergy in men.

Natural reproduction is an interaction process between gametes, female (oocyte) and male (spermatozoon), that occurs after spermatozoon travel along reproductive sexual tract during which it suffers several physiological and biochemical changes called capacitation. After capacitation, the spermatozoa are capable of undergoing acrosome reaction upon stimulation by the pellucid zone. In humans during sexual reproduction, semen, which is made up by sperm and seminal plasma, is ejaculated into the vagina so that sperm can begin their journey to the oocyte. However, the encounter is difficult in those women who show early seminal plasma hypersensitivity. This phenomenon has been described as semen allergy and, although it was considered as uncommon, its description has risen, and even our group has reported the case of a 21-year-old woman. Something similar happens in males: a hyper-reactive immune response of the mucosal epithelium that lines the urinary tract to semen named postorgasmic illness syndrome. In 2002, Waldinger and Schweitzer described for first time cases, the symptoms coincided with the moment of ejaculation and included: fatigue, fever, nasal drip, irritability and concentration difficulties. In 2011, a study were carried out in 45 males being suspected of having this syndrome, 88% of them had a positive skin-prick test with their own semen; besides, 5 diagnosis criteria were established by the authors: (a) unspecific symptomatology consisting of flu-like symptoms, extreme fatigue or exhaustion, weakness, fever, increased perspiration, irritability, memory or concentration problems, incoherent speech and nasal congestion; (b) nearly always it occurs within seconds or short time period post-masturbation, coitus, or spontaneous ejaculation; (c) symptoms appear always or almost always when