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Auto-Immunity to Sperm

  • Chapter
Male Infertility

Part of the book series: Clinical Practice in Urology ((PRACTICE UROLOG))

Abstract

The history of sperm immunology goes back to the turn of the century when the immunogenicity of spermatozoa was demonstrated, first in heterologous systems independently by Landsteiner (1899) and Metchnikoff (1899) and shortly afterwards in a homologous system by Metalnikoff (1900). However, interest in auto-immunity to sperm as a possible cause of infertility was not evident until 1954, when Rümke (1954) and Wilson (1954) in independent studies detected sperm-agglutinating and -immobilising auto-antibodies in the sera of a few infertile men. In Wilson’s study auto-agglutination of the spermatozoa in the patients’ ejaculate and lack of penetration into cervical mucus was observed. Indeed, it calls for admiration that the main aspects of sperm immunology and immunological infertility could be outlined with such precision by studying only two patients!

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Honorary Consultant Urological Surgeon, University Department of Surgery/Urology, Western General Hospital, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland

    T. B. Hargreave FRCS (Senior Lecturer in Urology) (Senior Lecturer in Urology)

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Hjort, T. (1983). Auto-Immunity to Sperm. In: Hargreave, T.B. (eds) Male Infertility. Clinical Practice in Urology. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3310-0_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3310-0_9

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-3312-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-3310-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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