Failure in AIH as a Method of Fertility Induction in Men with Sperm Agglutination

Abstract

The spontaneous agglutination of spermatozoa that may occur in human semen at or very soon after ejaculation is a well recognised cause of infertility in the male (Rumpke, 1968; Halim et al., 1974). This spontaneous sperm agglutination is traditionally ascribed to the presence in the semen of specific anti-bodies directed against the surface antigens of the spermatozoa (Hansen and Hjort, 1971). It is the polyvalency of these antibodies which are said to cause the sperm to stick together in clumps in the semen. These antibodies can be demonstrated in the serum not only in men with spontaneous sperm agglutination but also in men with a wide variety of different disorders producing their infertility (Rumpke and Hellinga, 1959). For example, the Gel Agglutination Test which is a commonly used method for demonstrating sperm antibodies (Halim et al., 1974) may, if applied to different groups of infertile men, result in an incidence of between 3.3 and 14.2% positive responses (Rumpke and Hellinga, 1959; Beer and Neaves, 1978; Jequier et al., 1980; Rumpke et al., 1974). The demonstration of sperm agglutination in the serum of infertile men is not a very good prognostic index as far as fertility is concerned.