The prognostic value of seminal anti-sperm antibodies screening in men prepared for ICSI: a call to change the current antibody-directed viewpoint of sperm autoimmunity testing

AIMS: We aimed to prospectively evaluate the prognostic value of seminal anti-sperm antibodies (ASA) screening in couples prepared for intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). METHODS: A prospective comparative study was conducted, including 184 non-azoospermic infertile men scheduled for ICSI. For each patient, detection of ASA in seminal plasma using the ELISA technique was done and its relation to standard semen parameters and ICSI outcomes, including fertilization, embryo development, and pregnancy rates, was analyzed. RESULTS: Sperm count, motility, and morphology were negatively affected by existence of seminal ASA (p = 0.012, 0.006, and 0.011, respectively). However, no statistically significant difference was detected between patients with positive and negative seminal ASA regarding the median values of fertilization (56.3% versus 66.7%, p = 0.091), percentage of couples with grade A embryo development (91.4% versus 89.9%, p = 0.520), and pregnancy rates (31.4% versus 32.2%, p = 0.98) after ICSI. CONCLUSION: ICSI seems able to overcome the problem of ASA in semen. The routine screening of ASA in men prepared for ICSI has no additional prognostic value and cannot be recommended for the time being, until more specific antigen-concerned testing can be developed.