Female serum immunoglobulins G, A, E and their immunological reactions to seminal fluid antigens.

ABSTRACT

One in five couples of reproductive age has been diagnosed with infertility. Some diagnoses indicate an immunological basis for this disorder. Female immune infertility may be caused by iso-immunization by seminal components. We focused on the characterization of seminal proteins to illustrate the IgG, IgA and IgE immune responses of 31 infertile women. The biochemical characterization was performed by one-dimensional sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and isoelectric focusing, both of which were followed by immunoblotting analyses. IgG mainly recognized the antigens with relative molecular masses (Mr) 95 and 183 kDa and isoelectric points ranging from 6.9 to 7.0. The immunodominant antigens recognized by IgA had the Mr of 35 kDa and isoelectric points ranging from 6.2 to 7.2. The reactivity of IgE was not confirmed within our group of patients. The seminal IgG- and IgA -binding patterns were analysed immunochemically to determine the characteristics of possible seminal proteins associated with female immune infertility.