Can the immunobead assay for detecting sperm antibodies in fresh samples be reproduced in cryopreserved/thawed human spermatozoa?
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the reproducibility of the Immunobead Assay (IBA) on sperm samples before and after cryopreservation.


METHODS
Sperm samples (fresh and post-thaw) from known antibody negative donors (N = 20) were evaluated for percent immunobead binding by IBA following incubation with known antibody-positive serum.


RESULTS
In both fresh and thawed negative samples, the mean sperm head binding was 0.5% +/- 0.5, the mean sperm tail binding was 2.0% +/- 2.0 and the mean sperm head-tail binding was 3.0% +/- 2.0 for IgG, IgA and IgM type antibodies, respectively. The same samples exposed to positive sera showed 40.0% +/- 10.0 mean head binding, 7.0% +/- 8.0 mean tail binding and 47.0% +/- 11.0 mean head-tail binding.


CONCLUSIONS
IBA is highly reproducible for detecting sperm antibodies in both fresh and cryopreserved/thawed samples of human spermatozoa.
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia 19104, USA.
S
S
Melo-Abreu
S
S
Battish
K
K
Brown
R
R
Tureck
S
S
Heyner
L
L
Blasco
D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000737:chemistry*; D001666:Binding Sites, Antibody; D015925:Cryopreservation; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008863:Microspheres; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013077:Sperm Head / Q000276:immunology; D013082:Sperm Tail / Q000276:immunology; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000276:immunology*
D001323:Autoantibodies