Reproductive Immunology: 4. The Effect of Seminal Plasma from Immunologic Infertile Men on In Vitro Lymphocyte Cultures

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Abstract
The seminal plasma of 31 patients were examined for the presence of sperm antibodies and for inhibitory properties on the transformation rates of donor lymphocytes cultured in vitro. Of the 25 men 80% revealed no sperm antibody activities apart from fertile semen, while 6 (20%) patients showed high spermagglutinating antibody titers in their seminal plasma and blood serum. Following the routine semen analyses and sperm antibody estimations the seminal plasma were used in lymphocyte transformation studies to examine their inhibitory effect. The influence of the seminal plasma on the lymphocytes was expressed as a percentage inhibition. The percentage inhibition of the normozoospermic men differed significantly from the immunologic infertile men (P < 0.05). The inhibitory potential of the seminal plasma from immunologic infertile males with a normal sperm count is elevated compared with that of normozoospermic men without sperm antibodies. Apparently, the sperm antibodies in the seminal fluid are able to bind with the inhibitory factor, thus causing an enhanced inhibition effect on the lymphocytes.