Autoimmunity to sperm antigens in vasectomized men.

Clinical and experimental immunology ·Vol. 21 ·No. 1 ·1975-07-00 ·Pages 65-74

Samuel T, Kolk AH, Rümke P, Van Lis JM

Abstract

Sera from vasectomized men were tested for the presence of antibodies directed against sperm antigens. A high percentage (about 55%) of the vasectomized men developed agglutinating antibodies. A lower percentage (22%) also developed low titres of antibodies to human protamine, as detected in the indirect IFT on swollen sperm heads and 22% developed cytotoxic antibodies. A correlation was found between the presence of anti-protamine antibodies and the presence of agglutinating and of cytotoxic antibodies. This correlation, and also the fact that they developed after vasectomy, indicates that the formation of antibodies against human protamine is a result of an autoimmune response to spermatozoa. The indirect IFT was also performed on 'normal' unswollen spermatozoa. All the sera were positive at least on one of the sperm antigens located in the acrosome, equator, or post-nuclear region, but no increase nor decrease in titre was found after vasectomy.

Keywords

Antibodies Autoimmune Response Biology Clinical Research Family Planning Genitalia Germ Cells Hematological Effects Hemic System Immunity Immunoglobulin Alterations Immunologic Factors Male Sterilization Male Urologic Surgery Physiology Research Methodology Spermatozoa Sterilization Sexual Urogenital System Vasectomy

MeSH Terms

Acrosome/immunology Antigens Autoantibodies Cell Nucleus/immunology Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic DNA/immunology Dithiothreitol/metabolism Fluorescent Antibody Technique Humans Male Protamines/immunology Sperm Agglutination Sperm Head/immunology Spermatozoa/immunology Trypsin/metabolism Vasectomy

Chemicals

Antigens Autoantibodies Protamines DNA Trypsin Dithiothreitol

Authors & Affiliations

4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID

Samuel T

Kolk A H

Rümke P

Van Lis J M

Other Abstracts

eng

Sera from vasectomized men were tested for the presence of antibodie s directed against sperm antigens. About 55% had developed agglutinating antibodies. A lower percentage also developed low titers of antibodies to human protamine, as detected in the indirect immunofluorescence technique (IFT) on swollen sperm heads, and 22% developed cytotoxic antibodies. A correlation was found between the presence of antiprotamine antibodies and the presence of agglutinating and of cytotoxic antibodies that indicates that the formation of antibodies against human protamine is a result of an autoimmune response to speratozoa. The indirect IFT was also performed on "normal" unswollen spermatozoa. All the sera including the prevasectomy samples were positive at least on 1 of the sperm antigens located in the acrosome, equator, or postnuclear region, but no increase or decrease in titer was found after vasectomy.

References (21)

21 references, click to expand

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Article Info

Journal

Clinical and experimental immunology

Abbr.

Clin Exp Immunol

ISSN

0009-9104

Published

1975-07-00

Pages

65-74

Language

English

Region

England

NLM ID

0057202

PMCID

PMC1538250

Subset

External Links

PubMed source PMC Full Text View journal details

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