The clinical significance of antisperm antibodies in male subfertility.

Sera from 591 men attending Fertility Clinics have been tested for agglutinating, immobilising and immunofluorescent antisperm antibodies. There was good correlation between the presence of high titres (more than 1/32) of agglutinating and immobilising antibodies which were found in 50 patients (8.5%). 27 of these men had normal sperm counts, but crossed hostility testing showed that in 21 of 22 couples the sperms were unable to penetrate the cervical mucus, apparently because of the antibodies. 17 patients were treated with prednisone for an average of 6 months and 1 pregnancy was produced. 17 patients were treated with methylprednisolone for 7 days and 1 pregnancy resulted. No correlation was found between the present of immunofluorescent antibodies and the other antibodies of impaired sperm penetration of cervical mucus.