Objective: To develop a new immunobead binding test (IBT) procedure that will detect sperm antibody in cervical mucus (CM), especially in very small samples of mucus.
Design: After the interaction of donor sperm with bromelin-dissolved CM, the motile sperm cells were separated from other cells and debris and then tested with a standard immunobead method.
Setting: The CM and serum samples were obtained from a sequence of referred patients who were sent to this testing laboratory.
Patients: There were 60 women who provided 64 samples of CM and 41 samples of blood serum. They were partners in infertile couples.
Interventions: None.
Main outcome measure: A useful distinction was made between positive and negative results for the mucus samples by this CM-IBT procedure. The usable samples of mucus could be as little as 0.05 g (wet weight).
Results: From the 60 women, seven mucus samples were positive; in the repeated testing, the same results were obtained with five of the six positive samples and seven of seven negative samples.
Conclusion: This method (CM-IBT) can be clinically useful for detecting sperm antibody in CM, especially because it is effective for tiny samples. In this method, the motile sperm cells are better separated from the debris after the incubation step. When the IBT was applied to the serum samples from the same women, there was no correlation between serum-IBT and CM-IBT, showing that both materials must be tested.
PIP: This study sought to develop a new immunobead binding test (IBT) procedure that would detect sperm antibody in cervical mucus (CM), especially in very small samples. 60 women provided 64 samples of CM and 41 samples of blood serum from a pool of referred patients who were partners in infertile couples. After the interaction of donor sperm with bromelin-dissolved CM, the motile sperm cells were separated from other cells and debris and then tested with the standard immunobead method. A useful distinction was made between positive and negative results for the mucus samples by this CM-IBT procedure The usable samples of mucus could weigh as little as 0.05 g (wet weight). From the 60 women, 7 mucus samples were positive; in the repeated testing, the same results were obtained with 5 of 6 positive samples and 7 of 7 negative samples. This method (CM-IBT) can be clinically useful for detecting sperm antibody in CM, especially because it is effective for tiny samples. In this method, motile sperm cells are better separated from the debris after the incubation step. When the IBT was applied to the serum samples from the same woman, there was no correlation between serum-IBT and CM-IBT. This indicated that both materials must be tested.