Skip to main content
PMC home page
Clinical and Experimental Immunology logoLink to Clinical and Experimental Immunology
. 1981 Jan;43(1):99–108.

Antisperm antibody titres, immune complex deposition and immunocompetence in long-term vasectomized mice

Deborah J Anderson, Nancy J Alexander
PMCID: PMC1537115  PMID: 7018760

Abstract

Experiments were performed to determine sperm antigen-specific and non-specific immunological changes in long-term vasectomized BDF1 mice. Circulating antisperm antibodies, detected by immunofluorescence assay, were observed as early as 1 month post-vasectomy; antisperm titres increased with time and were highest in animals that had been vasectomized for over 2 years. Several aged sham-vasectomized mice also had significant antisperm antibody titres, but the development of antisperm antibodies was significantly different from that of the vasectomized group. Tests of general immunocompetence, performed on vasectomized and sham-vasectomized mice at various intervals up to 2·5 years post-surgery, revealed a decrease in mitogenic responsiveness over time in both groups, but no difference between age-matched groups in lymphocyte responses to mitogenic or allogeneic stimulation in vitro, or to in vivo challenge with picryl chloride (delayed hypersensitivity response) or immunization with foreign antigen (humoral response). Most vasectomized mice developed epididymitis and epididymal sperm granulomas by 9 months post-surgery. Patchy regions of hypospermatogenesis were observed in some testes as early as 3 months post-vasectomy, and spermatogenesis was markedly impaired in all long-term vasectomized mice examined. Orchitis lesions characterized by immune complex deposition and lymphocytic infiltration were found in testes from three out of 14 long-term vasectomized mice, as compared to none of the sham-operated group. Studies of vasectomy-associated immune complex deposition in the kidney were inconclusive because aged animals from both vasectomized and sham-vasectomized groups had similar patterns of immunoglobulin and complement deposition in the glomerular basement membranes.

Full text

PDF
99

Images in this article

104Fig. 6
on p.104
105Fig. 7
on p.105
105Fig. 8
on p.105

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Alexander N. J., Anderson D. J. Vasectomy: consequences of autoimmunity to sperm antigens. Fertil Steril. 1979 Sep;32(3):253–260. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(16)44228-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Alexander N. J. Autoimmune hypospermatogenesis in vasectomized guinea pigs. Contraception. 1973 Aug;8(2):147–164. doi: 10.1016/0010-7824(73)90121-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Alexander N. J., Clarkson T. B. Vasectomy increases the severity of diet-induced atherosclerosis in Macaca fascicularis. Science. 1978 Aug 11;201(4355):538–541. doi: 10.1126/science.96532. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Alexander N. J. Vasectomy: long-term effects in the rhesus monkey. J Reprod Fertil. 1972 Dec;31(3):399–406. doi: 10.1530/jrf.0.0310399. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Andersson J., Möller G., Sjöberg O. Selective induction of DNA synthesis in T and B lymphocytes. Cell Immunol. 1972 Aug;4(4):381–393. doi: 10.1016/0008-8749(72)90040-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Bedford J. M. Adaptations of the male reproductive tract and the fate of spermatozoa following vasectomy in the rabbit, rhesus monkey, hamster and rat. Biol Reprod. 1976 Mar;14(2):118–142. doi: 10.1095/biolreprod14.2.118. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Bigazzi P. E., Kosuda L. L., Hsu K. C., Andres G. A. Immune complex orchitis in vasectomized rabbits. J Exp Med. 1976 Feb 1;143(2):382–404. doi: 10.1084/jem.143.2.382. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Bishop D. W., Carlson G. L. Immunologically induced aspermatogenesis in guinea pigs. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1965 Jun 30;124(1):247–266. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1965.tb18960.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Clarkson T. B., Alexander N. J. Long-term vasectomy: effects on the occurrence and extent of atherosclerosis in rhesus monkeys. J Clin Invest. 1980 Jan;65(1):15–25. doi: 10.1172/JCI109645. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Croft B. T., Bartke A. Quantitative study of spermatogenesis in vasectomized mice. Int J Fertil. 1976;21(1):61–64. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. FUDENBERG H. H., DREWS G., NISONOFF A. SEROLOGIC DEMONSTRATION OF DUAL SPECIFICITY OF RABBIT BIVALENT HYBRID ANTIBODY. J Exp Med. 1964 Jan 1;119:151–166. doi: 10.1084/jem.119.1.151. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Fjällbrant B. Autoimmune human sperm antibodies and age in males. J Reprod Fertil. 1975 Apr;43(1):145–148. doi: 10.1530/jrf.0.0430145. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Heller G. V., Rothchild I. The influence of the surgical technique used for vasectomy on testis function in rats. J Reprod Fertil. 1974 Jul;39(1):81–84. doi: 10.1530/jrf.0.0390081. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Johnson A. L., Howards S. S. Intratubular hydrostatic pressure in testis and epididymis before and after vasectomy. Am J Physiol. 1975 Feb;228(2):556–564. doi: 10.1152/ajplegacy.1975.228.2.556. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Johnson M. H. Changes in the blood-testis barrier of the guinea-pig in relation to histological damage following iso-immunization with testis. J Reprod Fertil. 1970 Jun;22(1):119–127. doi: 10.1530/jrf.0.0220119. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kosuda L. L., Bigazzi P. E. Autoantibodies to acrosomal antigens of spermatozoa in vasectomized mice. Invest Urol. 1978 Sep;16(2):140–141. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Sarkar S. Carbohydrate antigens of human sperm and autoimmune induction of infertility. J Reprod Med. 1974 Sep;13(3):93–99. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Strong D. M., Ahmed A. A., Thurman G. B., Sell K. W. In vitro stimulation of murine spleen cells using a microculture system and a multiple automated sample harvester. J Immunol Methods. 1973 Apr;2(3):279–291. doi: 10.1016/0022-1759(73)90054-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Toullet F., Voisin G. A., Nemirovsky M. Histoimmunochemical localization of three guinea-pig spermatozoal autoantigens. Immunology. 1973 Apr;24(4):635–653. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Tung K. S., Alexander N. J. Immunopathologic studies on vasectomized guinea pigs. Biol Reprod. 1977 Sep;17(2):241–254. doi: 10.1095/biolreprod17.2.241. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Tung K. S. Human sperm antigens and antisperm antibodies. III. Studies on acrosomal antigens. Clin Exp Immunol. 1976 May;24(2):292–299. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Tung K. S., Leong C., McCarty T. Pathogenesis of experimental allergic orchitis. III. T lymphocyte requirement in local adoptive transfer by peritoneal exudate cells. J Immunol. 1977 May;118(5):1774–1779. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Tung K. S., Unanue E. R., Dixon F. J. The immunopathology of experimental allergic orchitis. Am J Pathol. 1970 Sep;60(3):313–328. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Wilson B. J., Alexander N. J., Porter G., Fulgham D. L. Cell-mediated immunity in vasectomized rhesus monkeys. Fertil Steril. 1977 Dec;28(12):1349–1355. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(16)42983-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Wilson B. J., Porter G., Goldstein A. Reduced T cell reactivity in vasectomized rhesus monkeys: association with histocompatibility type. Fertil Steril. 1979 Apr;31(4):434–440. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Clinical and Experimental Immunology are provided here courtesy of British Society for Immunology

RESOURCES