Antibodies are molecules produced by the immune system to fight off anything that the immune system perceives as being foreign. After a vasectomy many men begin making antibodies to their sperm that can be detected in their bloodstream. When present, antibodies can attach to the sperm and prevent them from moving (decrease motility) or from penetrating an egg. It has become clear that only antibodies present on the sperm may cause a problem in certain situations.

Sperm in the testes and duct system are normally isolated from the body’s immune system. When a vasectomy is performed, the sperm are exposed to the immune system, and the body responds as if the sperm were a foreign protein. The immune system produces substances called antibodies against the sperm.

Researchers are still in the process of trying to fully understand the nature of these antibodies. However, published studies have recently reported that fibromyalgia patients with a higher level of anti-polymer antibodies in their blood have more severe fibromyalgia symptoms than patients with lower antibody levels. This makes the APA Assay a valuable fibromyalgia test even though the circumstances surrounding antibody production are not yet completely understood.

They dissolve and are absorbed into the body. Dead and unused cells are absorbed by the body throughout life. Antibodies to sperm develop in 50 percent of men who have vasectomies. Normally, antibodies protect the body against viruses and bacteria. Sperm antibodies will not affect your general health. But they may lessen the chance of restoring fertility if vasectomy is reversed.

The sperm quality should return to normal 3 to 6 months following a reversal as it takes that long for the testicles to make new sperm. However, the count and the motility may be lower after reversal due to partial blockage or scarring.

Both vasectomy reversal and ICSI/sperm aspiration are good alternatives to father a child after vasectomy. They each have advantages and drawbacks. In most situations vasectomy reversal offers the most desirable option for pregnancy. It requires one procedure be performed only on the man and couples can then try to get pregnant every month the old fashioned way in bed at home.

Following a vasectomy, the testicles will decrease the number of sperm that they produce. Second, the body will increase the process of sperm breakdown and reabsorption. Over a period of time, the equilibrium between sperm production and sperm reabsorption is fine tuned.

A vasectomy creates a blockage or “dead end” in the scrotal portion of the vas. The sperm get to the point of blockage and can go no further. They age and then die. The sperm degenerate and the body breaks the sperm down into component protein molecules as it does for dead cells elsewhere in the body. These protein molecules are then reabsorbed in the bloodstream and are eliminated.

Why anti-polymer antibodies occur is also not fully understood yet. However, this is not unusual, because it is also not fully understood why other abnormal antibodies occur in diseases like rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Nevertheless, detecting the presence of the other antibodies in RA and SLE patients is useful in aiding in the diagnosis, and sometimes the treatment, of those illnesses.

The APA ELISA Kit is designed to be distributed to the clinical labs which run the test when it is ordered by a physician. FDA regulations prohibit the use of a test kit in the U.S. while it is undergoing clinical trials and approval, but the kit is available to labs in other countries through the Corgenix international sales office in Peterborough, UK. For more information, contact: Corgenix UK Ltd.

No. Unbelievably, good physicians still tell patients this. A man never stops producing sperm whether he had a vasectomy or not. Things that would stop a man from making sperm would be major insults such as exposure to high dose radiation, high dose radioactivity or extensive chemo therapy.

A vasectomy prevents sperm from traveling from the testicle to the ejaculatory duct. Restricted in their movement, the sperm degenerate and are broken down into proteins and reabsorbed into the bloodstream.

Prior to vasectomy, sperm can be frozen and stored at a sperm bank. In case of unforeseen situations such as the death of a spouse or child, separation, divorce or any other situation when you might desire to father a child, these sperm can be used for assisted reproduction. However, sperm storage is an expensive option.

Since sperm cannot pass the blocked vas, the cells disintegrate and are absorbed by the body just as other cells in the body are broken down and replaced.

In most infected people, the antibodies will show up in the blood within six weeks to 3 months. But in some people, it might take up to six months. This is important because the test cannot detect recent infections. For example, if you became infected in January, you may not test positive until July.

Antibodies are molecules that the body can make as part of its normal defense (the immune system) against foreign bodies, such as viruses. For example, when a person is infected with the flu, their body makes antibodies against the flu virus (this takes a few days) and eventually these antibodies help to defeat the virus. When a person gets vaccinated against flu, the doctor is simply injecting an inactive form of the flu virus.

That is a difficult question - there are some physicians who will not perform a vasectomy on a young single male or on a man without children. My feeling is that the patient should be adequately counseled regarding the risks and benefits as well as the possibility of sperm banking. There are no absolutes in terms of who should not get a vasectomy. The only other important point is that the patient's wife, or partner, is in complete agreement.