[Anti-sperm antibodies in dysspermia in spinal cord injury patients]

A relatively uninvestigated area of reproductive physiology is the changes of sperm quality in the anejaculatory man. The retention of sperm cells may result in increased pressure in the genital tract, initiating an autoimmune response to sperm as seen in cases of congenital absence of the vas deferens and vasectomy. Reports on this matter are very contradictory. We evaluated antisperm antibodies in two groups of anejaculatory men with SCI. In the first group of 16 patients there was no clinical and laboratory urogenital infection. In the second group of 13 patients there was clinical and laboratory evidence for urogenital infection. Sperm antibodies were found in 12% of the patients of the first group and in 38% of the patients of the second group.