Antibodies in semen analysis - "but all okay"??

[SummerHopin]

Hello,

We had a gynae consultation yesterday after ttc for a year as I have PCOS and problems ovulating. As part of the test procedure DH had to have a sperm analysis.....

The results came back with high number, good motility and good something else (basically 3 out of 3 good results) but there was a note on the result from the lab about the presence of antibodies in the sample.

The consultant didnt seem overly worried, but he said that IF we needed to have any kind of IVF then we would need to have ICSI because of the antibodies. I didnt think much of it at the time because we were more talking about my ovulation etc, but today I have tried to do a bit of research on antibodies and there are just loads of posts about antibodies and infertility and people not being able to conceive naturally after finding this out!!

Does anyone have any experience or advice please? Am getting myself into a bit of a state thinking that our consultation has left me less reassured and more confused!

Thanks

[TammySwanson]

We have the same problem (only found out recently after nearly 5 years trying!) and had ICSI (which failed but trying again soon). I think what's most important is the % of ASA present - although our consultant wouldn't tell us exactly what % started to become a problem (our values were 95% though so definitely too high for it to work naturally) - and remember that %s can fluctuate (ie you could get a high reading one sample, and much lower the next) although it seems like once they are there they don't disappear altogether. Also I did get pregnant naturally once (ended in mc) and my consultant said that it is possible to still get pregnant with ASA. Do you know what % of ASA was in your DH's sample?

[SummerHopin]

Hi Tammy, thanks for responding.
I don't know that at the moment as we haven't had the results print out through from the clinic. I did chase them yesterday though and its on its way so I'll get back to you then.
One other thing I've read since writing this is that the antibodies build up the longer it has been since having sex - and due to me not being well we hadn't actually DTD for about 15 days before the sample......apparently 7 days is the maximum? They asked us to tell them the number of days at the appointment but didnt say anything about it being a long time, but maybe that might have been why the number was high?
.....or I could just be making things up! :)

[SummerHopin]

HI Tammy, sorry for late response but only just got the damn results back!

The results state that the IgG result was negative and the IgA was 60%.

I've googled normal ranges on the other elements of the results and he seems well above those, but not sure what the percentages mean for the MAR test.

[GenghisKahnSchmitz]

Hi Summer, sorry you're going through this stress. Just to give you my story - my DH had a MAR result of 95%. My understanding was that up to 40% is okay (obviously the lower the better), and as the percentage increases the level of agglutination also increases.

I saw your question about the timing - I don't know about the limit but we had been told to refrain for three days and it was definitely noted on the results so I'm sure it was taken into account.

Do you have another appointment coming up? Definitely ask for more clarity/advice. Good luck!

[TammySwanson]

Yes, from my limited google-age and reading of journal papers there does not seem to be a standard acceptable limit (although the WHO use 50% as the level at which fertility seems to be impaired) - but I confess I'm not sure what your 0%/60% levels of IgA and IgG would make it terms of percentage so probably best to ask for clarity.