Antibodies to sperm in benign and malignant diseases of the prostate in man: incidence, disease-associated specificity, and implications.

Initial investigation demonstrated antibodies to sperm (ASA) in patients with benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and prostate cancer (PCa). The occurrence of ASA under a variety of normal and pathological circumstances indicated the need for confirmation and extension, including delineation of their possible disease-associated specificity and implications. As countercurrent immunoelectrophoresis (CIEP) employing sonicated allogeneic sperm (Sp) extracts appeared most efficient from initial studies of ASA, CIEP was employed for the present further study of 200 serum specimens from patients with and without prostatic disease. While ubiquitous, the continuing presence of ASA in BPH and PCa, with a combined incidence in this study of 57 (52%) of 109 vs. 9 (10%) of 91 in the absence of prostatic disease remains provocative in view of the hypothesized role of Sp in the development of BPH and PCa. The presence, however, of ASA in patients with genitourinary neoplasms other than prostate, raises doubt as to their disease specificity. Implications of ASA, other than in their more commonly related role in infertility, including their cross-reactivity with foetal antigens and lymphocytes and higher incidence in association with tumours and the presence of tumour-associated immunity are considered. However, pending further investigation, the present data may most appropriately be viewed as being reflective of a host response (marker?) to aberrant genitourinary cellular alterations.

Cigarette smoking and its possible effects on sperm.

The possible effects of cigarette smoking on sperm were evaluated by comparison of the quality of sperm from 103 smokers and 135 nonsmokers in a blind study. Smokers were found to possess significantly (P less than 0.001) decreased density (number) and motility of their sperm than nonsmokers. Morphologic abnormalities, particularly bicephalia, although prevalent among individual smokers, did not differ significantly (P greater than 0.9) when a comparison of smokers versus nonsmokers was made as a whole. Based on these observations and those of others demonstrating the presence of the mutagenic properties of smoke condensates, we suggest that decreases in sperm density and motility in cigarette smokers may be reflective of smoke condensate-induced mutagenic spermatogenital alterations.

PIP: The possible effects of cigarette smoking on sperm were investigated in a blind study involving 103 smokers and 135 nonsmokers. The quality of sperm from study subjects was assessed on the basis of density (number), motility, and morphologic abnormalities. Spermatozoa from smokers possessed significantly decreased density and motility compared with nonsmokers (p 0.001). 75% of smokers versus 26% of nonsmokers had a sperm density under 40 x 10million sperm/ml. On the other hand, morphologic abnormalities were noted in 27% of men in both groups. These results differ from those of earlier studies that found no significant differences between sperm density and motility in smokers and nonsmokers yet noted a higher percentage of morphologically abnormal sperm in smokers. It is suggested that the decreases in sperm density and motility noted in the present study may reflect smoke condensate-induced mutagenic spermatogenital alterations. It is recommended that future studies consider 1) evaluation of the functional competency of spermatozoa from smokers, 2) whether smokers convey any genetic abnormality to their children, and 3) elimination of the possible contributory effect of the concomitant presence of a varicocele.