Antibody-coated bacteria in the ejaculate: a possible test for prostatitis.

An immunofluorescence technique was used to study antibody coating of bacteria in ejaculates from 14 healthy individuals and 51 patients with complaints compatible with the diagnosis of prostatitis. Quantitative bacteriological cultures in the ejaculate were positive in 2 healthy individuals (14%) and in 25 patients with prostatic symptoms (49%). Antibody-coated bacteria could be demonstrated in 25 patients with prostatic symptoms (49%), 8 of whom had negative bacterial cultures, but in none of the healthy individuals. All 5 patients with epididymitis had antibody-caoted bacteria in the ejaculate. The 13 patients with antibody-coated bacteria in the ejaculate were given antibiotic treatment and the bacteria disappeared in 8 cases. The results document the presence of a (presumably local) immune response in bacterial prostatitis. Antibody coating of bacteria in the ejaculate seems to be helpful in the diagnosis of bacterial prostatitis.