Semen characteristics in subfertile men with spermatozoal auto-antibodies

Summary

Sperm concentration, motility, morphology, vitality, auto-agglutination and semen volume in subfertile men with (n = 45) or without (n = 52) antisperm antibodies were compared. Only men whose sperm showed ≤ 50 per cent binding for both IgG and IgA antibodies in an immunobead test (or seminal plasma sperm agglutinating titre of 16) and a serum sperm agglutinating tit re 5 32, were included in the antibody positive group. Serum and seminal plasma were tested using the tray agglutination test. Three semen analyses (one per month) were performed on each subject and the mean values from these were used for statistical analyses.

Only auto-agglutination showed a significant association with the presence of antisperm antibodies (X²−18.82. p<0.001); it was present in 49 per cent of men with antibodies and in 7 per cent of those without. Auto-agglutination cannot be relied upon as a marker for sperm auto-immunity since it was absent in about half of the affected men. We conclude that no semen parameter which is routinely tested can serve as an efficient indicator for presence of antisperm antibodies.