Sperm autoantibodies in vasectomized rats of different inbred strains.

An immune response to antigens of spermatozoa occurs after vasectomy in rats of some inbred strains, but not in others. Antibodies to rat spermatozoa were detected by indirect immunofluorescence in some of the serums of vasectomized rats of the following strains: 80 percent of Lewis, 47 percent of Brown Norway, 13 percent of Buffalo, 12 percent of Wistar-Furth, and 11 percent of ACI rats. No such antibodies were detected in the serums of vasectomized Fischer, Dark Agouti, and Sprague-Dawley rats.