Antichlamydial and antisperm antibodies in patients with chlamydial infections.
OBJECTIVE
Establishing the correlation between antichlamydial antibodies (AchAbs) and antisperm antibodies (ASA) in patients with chlamydial infections.


METHODS
ASA were studied in sera from patients (142 with genital, 57 with ocular chlamydial infections) and control group (n = 100) by gelatin and tray agglutination test (TAT), sperm immobilization test (SIT) and ELISA. AchAbs were revealed by ELISA.


RESULTS
A significantly higher (P < 0.05) ASA incidence was noted in patients with genital infections as compared with controls and patients with ophthalmologic infection (P < 0.0001), but not between patients with ophthalmologic infection and controls (P > 0.05). A significant correlation was established between AchAbs and ASA for TAT (r = 0.8214, P = 0.0341), SIT (r = 0.797, P = 0.032) and ELISA (r = 0.8519, P = 0.0313) in patients with genital infections only.


CONCLUSIONS
The genital Chlamydia infection may play a role in the induction of ASA. This is probably a result of the inflammatory process, but not of cross-reactivity between sperm and Chlamydia trachomatis antigens.
Dimitrova
Dimitrina
D
Department of Biology, Medical University of Sofia, Sofia, Bulgaria. dimadk@medfac.acad.bg
Kalaydjiev
Svetoslav
S
Hristov
Lyubomir
L
Nikolov
Krasimir
K
Boyadjiev
Todor
T
Nakov
Lyudmil
L
D000328:Adult; D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000906:Antibodies; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D002031:Bulgaria / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D003235:Conjunctivitis, Inclusion / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007246:Infertility / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013081:Sperm Motility; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000276:immunology*
D000906:Antibodies; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001323:Autoantibodies