ANTISPERM AUTOANTIBODY RESPONSES TO VASECTOMY AND VASOVASOSTOMY IN FISCHER AND LEWIS RATS

Antisperm autoantibodies were studied in Fischer and Lewis strains of rats after either vasectomy, vasectomy followed one month later by vas ovasostomy, or sham operations. The time course of antibody response t o sperm protein autoantigens was assayed by Western blot analysis of s era obtained at intervals up to 3 months. Rats of both strains respond ed to immunization with isologous spermatozoa with production of high titer hyperimmune sera. Sera from vasectomized Fischer rats showed ant isperm antibodies on Western blots, but bands were stained with less i ntensity and frequency than for Lewis rats. In both Fischer and Lewis strains, major protein autoantigens were observed at 75-83, 68-71, 63, 57, 51, 41, and 21-23 kDa, lending support to the hypothesis that the re is a set of dominant sperm autoantigens recognized by a consensus o f postvasectomy rat sera. The lesser response of Fischer rats to vasec tomy was not due to absence of dominant postvasectomy sperm autoantige ns in Fischer sperm extracts, nor was it attributable to inability of Fischer rats to mount an immune response to these antigens, since immu nization with isologous sperm was successful in raising antibodies to the dominant autoantigens. Vasovasostomy did not result in a general d ecrease in antisperm antibodies, and reactions to some antigens actual ly increased.