Genetic control of autoantibody production to spermatozoa in vasectomized rats

Previous studies from our laboratory using vasectomized rats of different inbred strains have suggested that MHC-linked genes do not play a major role in the formation of autoantibodies to spermatozoa. In the present paper, we demonstrate that sperm autoantibody product in is not influenced by genes in major histocompatibility complex, using vasectomized congenic rats and various crosses between high and low responder strains. We also show that autoimmune responses to spermatozoa are not influenced by genes on the Y-chromosome.