Evaluation of Different Methods of Sperm Immunization in Mice

Antifertility effects of naturally occuring antisperm antibody (ASA) in infertile couples and studies on experimental immunization of various animals with sperm antigens represent ASA as an immunocontraceptive target. The effects of different factors on sperm immunogenecity and ASA production have been studied and different results have been reported. In this study, whole sperm immunization was evaluated.

In this experimental study, whole mice sperm with different adjuvants i.e. complete Freund’s adjuvant (CFA), incomplete Freund’s adjuvant (ICFA), cholera toxin subunit-β (CTS-β) were administrated to mice by different routes Intramuscular (IM), Subcutaneous (SC), Intranasal (IN), Intra peritoneal (IP), Intrarectal (IR), Intravaginal (IVA) and oral. Control groups were inoculated with phosphate buffer saline (PBS) plus corresponding adjuvant. Immunization was carried out on day 0,7,14,28 and ASA titers were detected by indirect immunofluorescence (IFA) technique. The results were compared between control and experimental groups by Mann Whitney and Fisher exact tests.

The number of positive mice for ASA in IM, IN and SC experimental and control groups were significantly different (P=0.01, P=0.01, P=0.04 respectively). However, there were no significant differences between the IR, IVA, and oral experimental and control groups. No differences were observed between ASA in vaginal washing of all groups. Due to high mortality, the IP group was excluded from the study.

It can be concluded that whole sperm antigen can induce immune response in female mice by IM, SC and IN routes, but not through IAV, IR and oral administration routes.