Institute of Microbiology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic.
PLoS One. 2012;7(8):e44172. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0044172. Epub 2012 Aug 31.
Anti-sperm antibodies in can markedly reduce the likelihood of natural conception. The etiology of this anti-sperm immunity in human females is unknown. We compared the cytokine response of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from infertile patients with or without anti-sperm antibodies (ASA) and fertile women.
METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We cultivated the PBMCs together with sperm antigens (whole cells or cell lysate), and screened the supernatants for 40 cytokines by antibody array. When stimulated with whole sperm cells, the PBMCs from patients with ASA produce less IL-3, IL-11, IL-13, ICAM-1, GCSF and more IL-2, IL-4 and IL-12p70 as compared to healthy women. PBMCs from patients with ASA produce typically less IL-13, IL-7, IL-17 and MIG, and more MIP-1β and IL-8, as compared to PBMCs from patients without ASA. In response to sperm cell lysate, PBMCs from infertile women without ASA respond initially by increase in production of growth factors (GCSF, GM-CSF and PDGF-BB) followed by increase in chemokines (e.g. IL-8, MCP-1 and MIP-1β).
Cellular immune responses to sperm antigens, measured by production of cytokines, differ among infertile women with ASA, infertile women without ASA and healthy women. This difference could play an important role in the initial steps of the infertility pathogenesis.
抗精子抗体在男性中可显著降低自然受孕的可能性。女性产生这种抗精子免疫的病因尚不清楚。我们比较了抗精子抗体（ASA）阳性和阴性的不孕患者以及健康女性外周血单个核细胞（PBMC）的细胞因子反应。
方法/主要发现：我们将 PBMC 与精子抗原（全细胞或细胞裂解物）共培养，并通过抗体阵列筛选上清液中的 40 种细胞因子。当用全精子细胞刺激时，与健康女性相比，ASA 阳性患者的 PBMC 产生较少的 IL-3、IL-11、IL-13、ICAM-1、GCSF 和更多的 IL-2、IL-4 和 IL-12p70。与 ASA 阴性患者的 PBMC 相比，ASA 阳性患者的 PBMC 通常产生较少的 IL-13、IL-7、IL-17 和 MIG，而产生更多的 MIP-1β 和 IL-8。对精子细胞裂解物的反应，无 ASA 的不孕妇女的 PBMC 最初通过产生生长因子（GCSF、GM-CSF 和 PDGF-BB）增加来响应，然后通过增加趋化因子（如 IL-8、MCP-1 和 MIP-1β）来响应。
通过细胞因子产生测量的针对精子抗原的细胞免疫反应在有 ASA 的不孕妇女、无 ASA 的不孕妇女和健康妇女之间存在差异。这种差异可能在不孕发病机制的初始步骤中发挥重要作用。
