The Effect of Antisperm Antibodies Detected by Immunobead Binding Assay on Fertilization and Cleavage of Human Oocytes In Vitro

Immunobead 검사로 검출된 항정자 항체가 인간 난자의 체외 수정 및 분할에 미치는 영향

The effect of antisperm antibodies (ASA) on the human in vitro fertilization (lVF) process was evaluated by analyzing the IVF data between October and December 1988 at Seoul National University Hospital prospectively. The immunobead test (IBT) was used to identify Ig G, Ig A, and Ig M in the serum, semen, and follicular fluid from 93 couples undergoing in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (lVF-ET ) . The fertilization rate in couples with ASA to sperm head of at least one isotype in female serum (n= 10) was significantly less than that in couples without ASA to sperm head (n=83; 28.5% versus 45.3% , p=0.028). The presence of ASA to sperm head in follicular fluid (n=8) also reduced fertilization rate from 45.3% to 24.4% (p=O.0l3). However, ASA binding to sperm head in male serum and semen did not predict fertilization. Similarly, ASA binding to sperm tail and tail-tip did not reduced the oocyte fertilization rate significantly in any of the fluids tested. The zygote cleavage rate was not reduced in the presence of ASA. These results suggest that the presence of ASA to sperm head in female serum and follicular fluid is associated with reduced fertilization in IVF-ET. Another observation is that the oocyte that do fertilize in the presence of antisperm antibodies can subsequently proceed with normal cleavage. The results of this investigation therefore suggest that the IBT is a useful test forscreening of women participat.ing IVF-ET program.