Auto-immunity to spermatozoa and quality of semen in men with spinal cord injury.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the presence of anti-sperm antibodies in serum, and on spermatozoa, in men with spinal cord injury.

Design: Thirty men whose injury occurred 1 to 18 years ago compared with 30 men with normal semen.

Patients and interventions: Eighteen tetraplegic and 12 paraplegic patients were treated with vibrator or rectal electrostimulation, yielding a total of 25 ejaculates.

Results: Semen analyses (WHO): volume low, with concentration > 100 million/mL in 80%; 8/30 exhibited sperm agglutinating antibodies, but with low titres.

Conclusions: Low titres of serum antibodies and absence of attached IgA antibodies indicate autoimmunity is not the cause of low sperm motility and penetration capacity in these patients.