Using of indirect Immuno florescence[IIF]method and enzyme-linked Immuno sorbant assay[ELISA]method in detecting of spermatozoa antibodies in serum

ABSTRACT

We proposed to compare between Indirect Immuno Fluorescence [IIF] method and Enzyme-Linked Immuno Sorbant Assay [ELISA] method in detecting spermatozoa antibodies in serum, and also to study the relationship between the presence of antisperm antibodies in serum and unexplained infertility. Fifty-four patients aged 18-45 years [30 men and 24 women] suffered from unexplained infertility [all their routine tests for evaluating infertility are normal] were evaluated by detecting spermatozoa antibodies in their serum by two methods [IIF and ELISA]. On the other hand, forty-five fertile men aged 16- 50 years were evaluated in the same way as controls [who conceived last child two years or less before the study]. Out of fifty-four patients, twenty-two patient's serum [11 men and 11 women] were positive for antisperm antibodies by using IIF method. Three serums of the control men were also positive. Whereas, twenty patient's serum [12 men and 8 women] and four control's serum were positive for Antisperm antibodies by using ELISA method. Our study revealed that there was a considerable correlation between the presence of serum-antisperm antibodies and unexplained infertility [P = 0.000102]. This finding highlights the role of antisperm antibodies in unexplained infertility. Moreover, we found that ELISA method had low sensitivity [32%] and specificity [78,3%] when compared with IIF method in detecting spermatozoa antibodies in serum. This finding suggests that IIF method is the method of choice for evaluating antisperm antibodies in serum