Use of immunobeads to detect human antispermatozoal antibodies.

Immunobeads for IgA, IgG and IgM were used in an indirect test (immunobead test: IBT) to detect human antispermatozoal antibodies, with positive results for at least one class of antibody being found in the serum of 13/169 (7.7%) men tested and 12/172 (6.9%) women. Of those men with antibodies present in serum, 100% had IgG, 62% had IgA and none had IgM, whilst the proportion for women was 75%, 100% and 33% respectively for each class of antibody. Antispermatozoal antibodies in men do not always appear both in semen and serum, but may be present in only one of the fluids tested for IgA (7/13 men; 53%) and IgG (6/14 men; 42.9%). The incidence of antibodies in the serum of oligospermic men was not significantly different from that of normospermic men (chi 2 = 0.06). A total of 481 serum and semen specimens were assayed by both the IBT and tray agglutination tests, and agreement between the two assays occurred in 97.3% (468/481) samples (P less than 0.001).