Anti-sperm antibodies can cause infertility in men and women

  It is well known that the human organism has a system with a special defense function, the immune system. It is a powerful weapon that people rely on to survive and fight against various pathogenic bacteria. The function of the immune system of a person sometimes becomes impaired, which may be congenital or acquired (e.g. AIDS). In this case, the person will die quickly, or else live in an isolated, hermetically sealed hood.  The immune function of the human body is performed by billions of different lymphocytes. Lymphocytes activated by specific antigens produce two different immune responses, namely, humoral and cellular immune responses. As soon as a foreign object invades a part of the body, the lymphocytes, like billions of armed warriors, immediately mobilize their troops and go forward, with the cooperation of leukocytes, macrophages, etc., until the invading enemy is destroyed. However, the immune response is not always beneficial to the individual and can sometimes cause a paradoxical reaction. Under normal conditions, lymphocytes have the ability to distinguish between their own tissues and foreign bodies. However, in pathological states, the immune recognition function is misjudged or the body’s tissues are altered in some way by some external trigger, causing the immune system to attack its own tissues, which are damaged and destroyed. This is the autoimmune disease, such as lupus erythematosus, immune nephropathy, etc. In addition, some tissues in the body are not recognized by the immune system due to some kind of barrier isolation. For example, sperm antigens occur late in the development of the individual, later than the immune tolerance period, so sperm-specific antigens are auto- and alloimmunogenic. And under normal circumstances, for anatomical reasons, spermatozoa are isolated from the blood circulation system and never meet with lymphocytes, so no immune response occurs. Once they meet due to injury or inflammation of the reproductive tract, an immune reaction occurs and anti-sperm antibodies are produced.  In 1954, doctors discovered the presence of a “sperm agglutinin” in the blood of infertile men, which was later confirmed to be an antisperm antibody. After numerous clinical measurements, it was found that sperm agglutinating antibodies and sperm braking antibodies were indeed present in the blood and seminal plasma of 5-10% of infertile men. When serum and seminal plasma with anti-sperm antibodies are mixed with normal sperm, head-to-head, tail-to-tail or mixed agglutination of sperm occurs, or in the presence of complement, the serum and seminal plasma can cause swimming sperm to stop moving or tremble in place. The higher the titer of antisperm antibodies, the more severe the agglutination and cessation of sperm movement. We can imagine how sperm can cross the barriers to meet the egg when they clump together or stop moving forward!  In addition, some people do not have high titers of anti-sperm antibodies, so on the surface the sperm agglutination phenomenon is not serious and the sperm motility rate is not low, but in fact the sperm surface is wrapped in a layer of anti-sperm antibodies, which prevents the sperm from combining with the egg. Studies on men with vasectomies have also confirmed that anti-sperm antibodies can cause infertility. Some people who have had their vas deferens tied and want to resume fertility have had their vas deferens re-anastomosed by a surgeon. In some of these cases, sperm reappear in the semen, but fertility is not restored. What is the reason for this? It turns out that in some men after vasectomy, high titers of anti-sperm antibodies are produced. It has been found in animal tests that epididymal depression, enlargement or even rupture of the epididymis occurs to varying degrees after vasectomy. This may be the reason for the production of anti-sperm antibodies. Anti-sperm antibodies can be produced in men, so can they also be produced in women? Sperm is obviously a foreign substance to women. Normally women do not produce anti-sperm antibodies, but under certain circumstances, possibly due to inflammation and damage to the female reproductive tract, antibodies can be produced in the female serum and cervical mucus. The presence of such antibodies can prevent sperm from penetrating the cervical mucus and fertilizing.  If the cervical mucus of these women is taken after sexual intercourse and observed, a lower-than-normal number of motile sperm will be found. Some scholars have compared the presence of antisperm antibodies in the body fluids of prostitutes and unmarried women and found a 73% positivity rate in prostitutes compared to 20% in unmarried women. Therefore, prostitutes are much less likely to become pregnant than other women.  In conclusion, antisperm antibodies can cause infertility in both men and women. Especially those couples with unexplained infertility should be investigated for the presence of antisperm antibodies. Systemic systemic treatment of antisperm antibodies is to suppress the immune response with adrenocorticosteroids such as prednisone. In addition, for men, sperm can be washed with culture fluid before insemination. For women, they can insist on using condoms for 3-6 months to avoid contact between the female genital tract and sperm, and then stop using condoms for intercourse after the titer of anti-sperm antibodies in the body has decreased or disappeared, in order to have the possibility of pregnancy. Chinese herbal medicine is also useful in treating anti-sperm antibodies that can cause infertility in men and women.