The SCMC test: a reliable monitor for antispermatozoal antibodies

Seventeen couples (13%) were selected from a group of 129 infertile patients according to the following criteria: (i) unexplained infertility for 3 years and (ii) greater than 50% shaking spermatozoa during SCMC testing. The couples were tested for sperm antibodies after a complete diagnostic work-up schedule. Post-coital tests were performed during the first menstrual cycle of the wife, followed by SCMC and sperm antibody titre testing. Ten males and seven females were thus treated with 96 mg methylprednisolone. Nine (52%) of the 17 with sperm antibodies achieved a pregnancy. The results of the SCMC test were in all the cases indicative of the actual sperm antibody titre. Reduction of the antibody titre and a decrease in the percentage of shaking spermatozoa as detected by the SCMC test correlated well with the pregnancy rate amongst the patients.