Smooth-muscle antibodies in infertility.
Sera from 77 infertile women and 77 post-partum controls were examined for autoantibodies by indirect immunogluorescence. 27 (35%) of the infertile group had smooth-muscle antibody compared with 2 (3%) controls. Significantly more infertile patients had anti-nuclear factor, and reticulin antibodies were also more commonly found in this group. The differences for organ-specific autoantibodies between the two groups were not significant. There was no correlation between the occurrence of smooth-muscle antibodies and immunofluorescent anti-sperm antibodies. The high frequency of smooth-muscle antibodies in infertile women requires further study to determine whether an underlying viral infection is involved.
D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D009130:Muscle, Smooth / Q000276:immunology*; D012155:Reticulin / Q000276:immunology; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000276:immunology
D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D001323:Autoantibodies; D012155:Reticulin