BIOLOGY OF SPERMATOZOA 



747 



and Stuart-Smith (1959) have recently de- 

 scribed circulating antisperm antibodies in 

 men who had previously suffered orchitis. 

 It seems not unlikely, therefore, that certain 

 cases of auto-agglutination of ejaculated 

 sperm may have arisen from some kind of 

 autosensitization and passage of the anti- 

 bodies into the seminal plasma. If auto-im- 

 munization does occur by such means, it is 

 assumed that tubal inflammation or infec- 

 tion must be present to effect the immune 

 reaction; otherwise the condition should be 

 much more common since resorption of non- 

 ejaculated sperm from the epididymis seems 

 to be a normal process (see above). The 

 seminal and follicular component, antag- 

 glutin, discovered by Lindahl and Kihl- 

 strom (1954), which tends to prevent ab- 

 normal clumping of sperm, does not coun- 

 teract agglutination by prepared antiserum 

 (Lindahl, 1960) ; it seems rather to operate 

 through another, nonserologic type of mech- 

 anism. 



Bocci and Notarbartolo (1956) suggested 

 that immunologic factors might contribute 

 to a state of sterility on a basis of their 

 finding of positive antisemen skin reactions 

 in some men suspected of infertility. 



Rumke (1954) and Riimke and Hellinga 

 ( 1959) made extensive studies of sperm ag- 

 glutinins in the sera of sterile men. In a 

 series of over 2000 cases, they found a 

 considerably higher incidence of sperm-ag- 

 glutinating antibodies in the sera of child- 

 less men (4.1 per cent) than in those of 

 normal fertile controls (1.0 per cent). 

 Among a small group of 21 relatively 

 aspermic patients, all of whose sera had 

 sperm agglutinins, 16 showed occlusions or 

 obstructions of the male tract. In the light 

 of these demonstrations, the suggestion may 

 be ventured that auto-immunization occurs 

 in the male, that the mechanism may result 

 from spermatozoal reactions involving the 

 tubal epithelium, and that the antibodies 

 produced may impair fertility. To what ex- 

 tent, if any, variations in androgen levels 

 modify the epididymal reactivity in this 

 regard is completely unknown. 



An unusual syndrome, aspermatogenesis, 

 can be readily induced in the guinea pig by 

 injecting homologous spermatozoa or ho- 

 mogenized testis combined with adjuvant 



(Freund, Lipton and Thompson, 1953; 

 Freund, Thompson and Lipton, 1955;'.'Katsh 

 and Bishop, 1958; Tyler and Bishop, 1961). 

 The immune response is due to a delayed 

 sensitization and is apparently not associ- 

 ated with the high levels of circulating anti- 

 sperm antibodies which can be detected 

 by such methods as sperm agglutination, 

 immobilization, and complement-fixation 

 (Freund, 1957; Katsh and Bishop, 1958). 

 The testicular lesion, as observed 1 to 2 

 months after injection, is characterized by 

 loss of germinal epithelium and decrease in 

 gonadal weight and volume (Fig. 13.14). 

 The Sertoli elements are affected very little, 

 if at all. The interstitial tissue remains 

 functional, as judged by the normal size and 

 activity of the accessory glands. Since the 

 induction of aspermatogenesis by the in- 

 jection of spermatozoa has been established 

 only in the guinea pig and rat, the implica- 

 tions for reproductive physiology may be 

 limited; its occurrence and the possible 

 mechanism, however, are of substantial im- 

 portance to the general areas of delayed 

 sensitization and the immune response 

 (Katsh, 1958, 1959c; Voisin, Toullet and 

 Mauer, 1958). 



In contrast to these investigations of ac- 

 tive immunization with sperm, the intro- 

 duction of antisperm serum into male ani- 

 mals has been shown to affect fertility in 

 a limited number of instances. Mice and 

 rabbits both show reproductive impairment 

 after injection of homologous antibody 

 serum (de Leslie, 1901; Guyer, 1922). In 

 rats, a considerable weight loss (24 per cent) 

 of the testes is accompanied by sloughing 

 of germinal epithelium after injection of rat 

 sperm antiserum produced in the rabbit 

 (Segal, 1961). The testicular reaction ap- 

 pears to be a specific response against the 

 homologous sperm. 



C. SPERM-INDUCED IMMUNE RESPONSES 

 IN THE FEMALE 



The memorable statement of Charles 

 Darwin (1871) that ''the diminution of fer- 

 tility may be explained in some cases by 

 the profligacy of the women" may be taken 

 to imply a sensitization against the male 

 reproductive products, although another not 

 unlikely explanation may involve the im- 



