In this research, patients with mild eczema and mild allergic rhinitis not only felt better when they spent half an hour kissing their lovers – not an entirely unsurprising result – but, when blood samples were tested, their IgE levels, a marker of allergic reaction, had fallen.

History does not relate whether extending the kissing period to an hour helped those with more serious eczema or rhinitis...

Kissing selectively decreases allergen-specific IgE production in atopic patients
H. Kimata, Department of Allergy, Satou Hospital, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

Objective
Stress enhanced allergic skin wheal responses and allergen-specific IgE production. In contrast, mothers' kissing caused relaxation in infants, and kissing by lovers or spouses to atopic patients reduced allergic skin wheal responses. I studied the effect of kissing on production of allergen-specific IgE and cytokines in atopic patients.

Methods
Twenty-four patients with mild atopic eczema and 24 patients with mild allergic rhinitis kissed with lovers or spouses freely for 30 min while listening to soft music. Just before and immediately after kissing, blood mononuclear cells were separated cultured for allergen, and production of allergen-specific immunoglobulin and cytokine was measured.

Results
Kissing selectively decreased allergen-specific IgE production with skewing cytokine pattern toward Th1 type.

Conclusion
Kissing may alleviate allergic symptoms by decrease in allergen-specific IgE production.

Journal of Psychosomatic Research Volume 60, Issue 5, May 2006, Pages 545-547

First published in May 2006

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