Correlation of antispermatozoal antibody with infertility in immunized female rabbits using 14C-protein A in a filter radioassay.
The meaningful detection of antisperm antibody in immunologically infertile females has been confounded by the many methods of assay that exist. With many of these methods there is poor correlation of assay results with infertility. In this report, female rabbits were rendered partially or completely infertile by immunization with sperm fractions. A filter radioassay for antisperm antibody was developed that consists of incubating 10(7) sperm with sperm from immunized rabbits and 14C-Protein A, a long-lived and versatile indirect radiolabel for many antibodies of the IgG class. The spermatozoa are washed by rapid vacuum filtration on polycarbonate membrane filters instead of by time-consuming centrifugation. The filters with the collected spermatozoa are then counted in a liquid scintillation counter. Sera from female rabbits isoimmunized with sperm antigens show a highly significant correlation (r = -0.904; p less than 0.001) between assay results and infertility as measured by the percentage of eggs that underwent cleavage after artificial insemination.
D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D005260:Female; D007114:Immunization; D007247:Infertility, Female / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D011817:Rabbits; D011863:Radioimmunoassay / Q000379:methods*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000276:immunology*; D013205:Staphylococcal Protein A
D000906:Antibodies; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D013205:Staphylococcal Protein A