An ELISA for antisperm antibody detection in serum: comparison with TAT and SIT in serum, with MAR-test, immunobead-test and TAT in semen and with micro-SIT in cervical mucus.

16 couples belonging to couples with negative or doubtful PCT were selected according to the presence of antisperm immunization. 12 patients, 5 male and 7 female, showed both localized and generalized immunization. The former was diagnosed by means of a positive IgG MAR-Test, direct IgG Immunobead-Test, direct IgG Immunobead-Test and seminal TAT in the male patients, and Micro-SIT in the cervical mucus of the female patients, while for the latter there was simultaneous positivity of both serum TAT and SIT, except for two cases, in which the SIT only was positive. The 4 remaining patients, 2 male and 2 female, did not show any signs of antisperm immunization. The evaluation of the antisperm antibodies by means of the ZER ELISA Antisperm Kit in the serum of the 16 patients examined showed that there were no significant statistical differences between the serum TAT and the SIT. The former showed agreement of the results in 93.75% of the cases, and the latter in 81.25%. A strict correlation was observed between the ELISA for serum antisperm antibodies (ELISA-AS-Abs) and the local immunitary situation, with agreement in 93.75% of the cases. The ELISA-AS-Abs seems to bring the advantage of eliminating the need for fresh semen for antibody titration and also means that there is no subjective interference with the evaluation of the results.