Bacterial Infection and Male Infertility: Absence of Immunoglobulin A with Specificity for Common Escherichia Coli 0-Serotypes in Seminal Fluid of Infertile Men

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Abstract
An indirect solid phase radioimmunoassay was used to detect and quantitate IgA in male genital secretions with specificity for E. coli antigen. The seminal fluid and expressed prostatic secretion (EPS) of a patient with chronic bacterial prostatitis (CBP) due to 01 E. coli, the seminal fluid of 24 fertile men and the seminal fluid of 62 men of infertile marriages were assessed. IgA directed apparently against the O-antigen of the infecting E. coli was measurable in the seminal fluid and EPS of the CBP patient. IgA in these specimens also bound to antigen in a mixture of 8 common E. coli O-serotypes that included an 01 E. coli. IgA with specificity for antigen in the mixture of common E. coli O-serotypes was not detected in the seminal fluid of the fertile men or the men of infertile marriages. Evidently, subclinical E. coli infections of the male reproductive tract are not commonly associated with infertility.