Immunology: Formation of antisperm antibodies in women treated with Fallopian tube sperm perfusion

Fallopian tube sperm perfusion (FSP) is a combination of ovarianstimulation and intra-uterine insemination using a large volume(4 ml) of inseminate containing 10⁷–10⁸ spermatozoa. Theinseminate will flush the Fallopian tubes and some of it willend up in the pouch of Douglas. In the present study, we haveinvestigated whether the FSP method will result in the formationof serum antisperm antibodies in the female. A total of 184treatment cycles were given to 128 women. The indications fortreatment were: unexplained infertility (n = 35), various infertilitydiagnoses (n = 28) and donor insemination (n = 65). Prior totreatment, 11 (8.6%) women had a positive tray-agglutinationtest (Friberg) and/or a positive immunobead test. After completingone to four treatment cycles, another six (4.7%) women had developedserum antisperm antibodies. The antibodies induced by the treatmentwere of isotype IgM and directed against the tailtip of thespermatozoa. Two of the women, who prior to the treatment hadantisperm antibodies, showed an increase in antibody titre duringtreatment. There was no statistically significant differencein the pregnancy rate between the women with antisperm antibodiesand the women without. In our opinion, the small risk of developingantisperm antibodies is no contra-indication for treating infertilecouples with FSP.