[A simple laboratory test for the detection of antispermatozoa-antibodies in males and females].
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Antibodies↗
Biomedical subjects
T van Slochteren-Draaisma
Publications and source records attributed to T van Slochteren-Draaisma.
A simple method of screening for antisperm antibodies in the human male. Detection of spermatozoal surface IgG with the direct mixed antiglobulin reaction carried out on untreated fresh human semen.
A simple and rapid test for the detection of antisperm antibodies of the IgG class on freely swimming spermatozoa in fresh human semen is described. The test is based on the formation of motile mixed agglutinates between erythrocytes sensitized with incomplete anti-Rh-antibodies and freely swimming spermatozoa with surface antisperm antibodies, after mixing both cell types together with anti-IgG antiserum. Agglutination of the red blood cells serves as an internal control. The test can be applied on ejaculates with spermatozoa concentrations down to one million per ml, provided the motility is sufficient. The percentage of motile spermatozoa found to be coated with antisperm antibodies of the IgG class, and the extent of the coating, proved to be correlated with the agglutination titer of circulating antisperm antibodies and with the inhibition of sperm penetration into cervical mucus. The test can be used as a screening for the presence of antisperm autoantibodies in serum and semen.
Agglutination↗
The "unexplained" poor postcoital test.
In 30 or 32 infertile couples with an unexplained negative or bad in vivo and in vitro sperm penetration test, we obtained a strongly positive Sperm Cervical Mucus Contact test (SCMC-test) and demonstrated the presence of antisperm antibodies in the male or female partner. In these 30 couples 25 of the male partners had a sperm-agglutination titre of at least 32 in the serum and at least 4 in the seminal plasma. In the five remaining couples the female partner showed a minimum sperm-agglutination titre of 16 in the serum and a cervical mucus titre of at least 128. In 48 couples with a fair or good sperm penetration in cervical mucus, in vivo and in vitro, we never found a strongly positive SCMC-test. In 43 of these couples the SCMC-test was negative. Only one man in the latter group had sperm-agglutinating activity in the semen. In a group 32 couples, with a negative SCMC-test, there was no or only weak sperm-agglutinating activity in the cervical mucus, although 2 women had moderate sperm-agglutinating activity in the blood serum. Based on these data we conclude that the so called "unexplained" poor postcoital test is almost always due to the presence of antisperm antibodies in the semen or in the cervical mucus. We consider the SCMC-test not only to be a simple and reliable technique for detecting the presence of these antisperm antibodies, but also a method of demonstrating the mechanism by which antisperm antibodies decrease the chance of conception.
Antibodies↗