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Human Reproduction, Vol. 8, No. 9, pp. 1405-1413, 1993
© 1993 European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology

research-article

Immunology: Determination of antisperm antibodies in serum samples by means of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay—a procedure to be recommended during infertility investigation?*

Waltraud Eggert-Kruse1, Karin Huber, Gerhard Rohr2 and Benno Runnebaum

Department of Gynaecological Endocrinology and Fertility Disorders, Women's University Hospital Voßstrasse 9, 6900 Heidelberg 2Department Internal Medicine IV, Klinikum Mannheim, University of Heidelberg Heidelberg, Germany

Correspondence: 1To whom correspondence should be addressed

The clinical significance of antispermatozoal antibody (ASA) testing in serum samples with an enzyme-linked immunosorbent (ELISA) technique using a commercially available kit was evaluated in 95 randomly chosen couples under infertility investigation. Results were related to many other parameters of male and female fertility, e.g. outcome of sperm analysis, testing of sperm functional capacity including the crossed in-vitro sperm—cervical mucus penetration test (SCMPT), results of a microbial screening in genital secretions, testing for local IgG- and IgA-class sperm antibodies in semen by means of the mixed antiglobulin reaction (MAR) and the subsequent pregnancy rate in a prospective study. Results of ASA testing did not show any relationship with medical history and results of clinical examination, the semen quality including sperm function tests and seminal cultures, outcome of the crossed SCMPT, and local ASA. All patients with MAR (IgG or IgA) positive ejaculates were ELISA negative in serum samples. No significant difference with regard to circulating ASA (ELISA) was found in couples with and without a subsequent pregnancy. Furthermore there was no significant difference of antibody levels in subfertile female patients, virgins (n = 36), ‘normal’ pregnant women (n = 39) and prostitutes (n = 40). In summary, the results of this study clearly demonstrate that the use of this method for detection of antisperm antibodies during infertility investigation cannot be recommended.

Key words: antisperm antibodies/enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay/immunologic infertility/mixed antiglobulin reaction/sperm—mucus interaction

*Presented in part at the 6th Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), 1990, Milan, Italy.


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