title: The effect of sperm immunization in the gastrointestinal tract on anti-sperm antibody production and fertility in female mice.
abstract: The present investigation studied the effects of sperm immunization in the gastrointestinal tract on anti-sperm antibody production and fertility in female mice. For comparative purposes, mice were also immunized with sperm intraperitoneally. Intraperitoneal immunization with 5 X 10(6) washed epididymal and vas deferens sperm 3 times per week for 7 wk produced anti-sperm IgG in plasma at 1:20,000 and in vaginal washings at 1:100 as determined by ELISA. Such mice have been shown previously to have reduced fertility. In comparison, mice immunized intragastrically with 5 X 10(6) sperm once per week for 11-14 wk had anti-sperm IgA in vaginal washings at only about 1:8 as determined by ELISA. After mating at the 14th wk these mice delivered 6.5 +/- 1.4 pups, which was not significantly different from the 7.1 +/- 1.1 pups delivered by an untreated control group. Mice immunized twice intragastrically and once intravaginally during a 25-day period had no detectable anti-sperm IgA in vaginal washings by ELISA. These mice delivered 9.7 +/- 1.2 pups after mating beginning on day 32, as compared to 9.7 +/- 0.8 pups in a PBS-sham immunized group. Mice immunized once intraduodenally and then once intraperitoneally 14 days later delivered 10.4 +/- 0.9 pups after mating 10-14 days after the second immunization, while a similar group of mice whose primary sperm immunization was directly into Peyer's patches delivered 9.0 +/- 1.4 pups. We could not detect anti-sperm IgG or IgA bound to sperm in the uterine or oviduct lumen using immunohistochemical labeling after any of the groups of immunized mice were mated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D004064:Digestive System / Q000276:immunology*; D004386:Duodenum / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005298:Fertility; D007114:Immunization / Q000379:methods*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D007267:Injections; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000276:immunology*; D013270:Stomach / Q000276:immunology; D014621:Vagina / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D007074:Immunoglobulin G