Anti-Sperm Antibodies( ASA)

Anti-sperm antibodies are antibodies produced against sperm antigens. They are found both in men and women. ASA can be detected in semen, cervical mucus, follicular fluid, and blood.

• ASA can arise whenever sperm encounter the immune system. ASA have been considered as infertility cause in around 10–30% of infertile couples, and in males, about 12–13 of all diagnosed infertility is related to an immunological reason.
• These antibodies can also be present in fertile men and women ( approximately 1–2.5 % of fertile men and in 4 % of fertile women).
• The presence of ASA in the fertile population suggests that not all ASA cause infertility.
• While around 75% of vasectomized men who have the process.
• Risk factors for the formation of antisperm antibodies in men include the breakdown of the blood-testis barrier, trauma and surgery, orchitis , varicocele, infections, prostatitis, testicular cancer, failure of immunosuppression and unprotected anal or oral sex with men.
• Women whose male partners have ASA in their semen are more likely to have ASA, and women with ASA tend to react only to their partner’s sperm and not to other men’s sperm.
• In women, spermatozoa in the genital tract after intercourse are not a factor in the production of antisperm antibodies. But this is possible with a trauma to the vaginal mucosa during intercourse or the deposition of sperm in the gastrointestinal tract by oral or anal intercourse.
• In both men and women, ASA production are directed against surface antigens on sperm, which can interfere with sperm motility and transport through the female reproductive tract, inhibiting capacitation and acrosome reaction, impaired fertilization, influence on the implantation process, and impaired growth and development of the embryo.