Infertility Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Infertility, including details on male and female infertility, treatment, causes, pregnancy.

Specific and sensitive immunoassays detect multiple anti-ovarian antibodies in women with infertility.

Pires ES, Meherji PK, Vaidya RR, Parikh FR, Ghosalkar MN, Khole VV

Department of Gamete Immunobiology, National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, J M Street, Parel, Mumbai 400012, India.

Serum anti-ovarian antibodies (AOAs) have been shown in autoimmune premature ovarian failure and in vitro fertilization-embryo transfer (IVF-ET) cases. The specificity of assays detecting these antibodies has been questioned. Researchers have used several techniques (e.g., ELISA and indirect immunofluorescence). Few have reported on the non-specificity and the type of molecular and cellular targets. We reported earlier on the presence of naturally occurring anti-albumin antibodies as the likely factor for non-specificity. Having developed a novel blocking recipe, we show substantial elimination of this non-specificity. With these standardized tests, we hereby report multiple targets at protein and histological levels. In our study group, 15 of 50 (30%) patients with premature ovarian failure and 13 of 50 (26%) IVF-ET patients showed the presence of AOAs. Western blotting showed a large number of patients making AOAs to a 90-kDa protein, followed by 97- and 120-kDa proteins. Histochemically, it was evident that the sera of these patients predominantly react with the oocyte; other somatic cellular targets are also involved. The specific non-invasive test developed by us was found to be useful because it could carry out a reliable diagnosis of an autoimmune etiology that would be very helpful to select patients in whom immune-modulating therapy could be recommended, which in turn may restore ovarian function and fertility.

Published 20 November 2007 in J Histochem Cytochem, 55(12): 1181-90.
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