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Review
. 2017 Dec 27;10(1):45.
doi: 10.1186/s40413-017-0176-x. eCollection 2017.

Sex hormone allergy: clinical aspects, causes and therapeutic strategies - Update and secondary publication

E Untersmayr  1 , A N Jensen  2 , K Walch  3
Affiliations
Review

Sex hormone allergy: clinical aspects, causes and therapeutic strategies - Update and secondary publication

E Untersmayr et al. World Allergy Organ J. .

Abstract

Sex hormone allergy as a clinical syndrome has been known for almost a century. Due to the diversity of clinical presentation regarding symptoms and disease patterns, the optimal patient care represents an enormous interdisciplinary challenge. Frequently, hypersensitivity reactions affect more than one sex hormone and double positive tests for estrogen and progesterone have been described. Since the menstrual cycle dependent symptoms range from skin afflictions, gynecological problems to non-specific reactions, different pathophysiological mechanisms seem likely. Various desensitization protocols are described as causal treatment options, but are rarely applied in clinical routine. Consequently, major research efforts with a quick translation of therapeutic interventions into clinical practice will be crucial to help affected patients in the future.

Keywords: Allergy; Desensitization; Estrogen; Female; Gender; Pregnancy; Pregnancy loss; Progesterone; Sex; Sex hormone; Transgender.

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Conflict of interest statement

Not applicable.All authors have seen and approved the last version of the manuscript.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Frequency of different clinical manifestations of autoimmune progesterone dermatitis. Progesterone dermatitis is a rare disease with a broad spectrum of symptoms triggered by hypersensitivity reactions to the endogenous or exogenous steroid hormone. Based on available literature regarding clinical presentation a recent review article summarized the variety of cutaneous symptoms (a) as well as associated disease manifestations during each flare-up including extracutaneous symptoms (b) observed in 89 patients with progesterone dermatitis [32]. The percentage of patients with each clinical presentation as described by Nguyen and colleagues [32] is given in parenthesis
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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