Anti sperm antibodies and sperm immobility

·         Karageners Syndrome can have inflammation(non specific) / specific) or can sustain mild testicular injury --> leading to breaks in blood-Testes barriers . Such Testicular injury(mild) are not uncommon in some- sports.(Scrotal guards are not used in all sports events). Therefore,Immobilizing or cytolysing antibodies against sperm tails/mid piece can then be formed by the concerned male against his own sperms even against his mature sperms . Such antibodies are secreted in his own epididymis/ prostatic secretion. This sperm autoantibody production -not the usual antibody which we are concerned in the female partner(wife).,To conclude any man where there are breaks in Blood-Testis barriers) -allowing passage of male germ cells enter into his own circulation can rarely yield antibody albeit rare.Because like Rh antigen sperm antigens have weak potentiality to evoke antigenic response in his own system. This applies to all sperms-normal or abnormal gene containing sperms (Syndrome which we are talking of). I worked under Prof. B N Chakravorty& late Prof. Subhas Mukherjee on this issue in the years 1968-73. Our unpublished data revealed that sperm immobilizing antibody is present in the sera of fertile males where he came to hospital for some other ailments/ volunteers aged 20-50 yrs.males @ 3.4% only. In cases where primary subferility was present in such couples the rate of presence of immobilizing antibody in husbands sera was 5.6%. There were many studies abroad in the early sixties on immunological disorders prevailing in the husband but in early seventies it was observed by the international academic bodies that this is an insignificant cause of subfetility. People used to treat males by Corticosteroids and in those days -& was one of the common indication of IUI on these days to wash out antibodies in the raw semen and also to by pass cervical secretion which may containing secreting antibodies. People thought corticosteroid administration to males will effect reduction of the titer of antibodies in the affected males.-- affecting fertility potential. Unfortunately it was a limited study and it (auto antibody production in males ) and also antibody production by wives(later secreted by cervical & vaginal secretion ) was later proven to be statistically insignificant. Similarly Mucus taken from subfertile women where normal raw semen of his husband sperm shows no immobility but PCT shows agglutination then secreting antibody can be suspected.In such cases one can take a semen sample of a fertile man and mix with the wife and observe the events., if one takes some Cx mucus and mixes on a slide with other man semen (washed & also non washed)-. On the whole immunology of sperms is now of little concern. but Prof. Talwalkar at AIIMS and his dedicated team is working for last two decades to mix Tet Toxoid with sperm and injecting Volunteers to induce contraception by initiating immobilizing antibodies.