The Effects of Homologous Testicular and Brain and Heterologous Testicular Homogenates combined with Adjuvant upon the Testes of Guinea-Pigs

Abstract

Numerous efforts have demonstrated antibody production after injection of spermatozoa into animals of the same species. For example, Metalnikoff (1900) and Kennedy (1924) reported anti-guinea-pig sperm ‘toxins’ in guinea-pigs; McCartney (1923) noted anti-rat sperm ‘toxins’ in rats; Pfeiffer (1905), Dittler (1920), and Pommerenke (1928) demonstrated anti-rabbit ‘spermatotoxins’ in rabbits. Antibody production against heterologous sperm has also been disclosed: Mudd & Mudd (1929) injected human, guinea-pig, bull, and ram sperm into rabbits and reported that the resultant antibodies were species specific. The absoluteness of specificity, both organ and species, however, has been qualified by the study of Lewis (1934), who found that brain and testicles possess common antigens, and Henle (1938) has extended Mudd & Mudd’s (1929) observations on cross-reaction between sperm of closely related species. In the above-mentioned studies the methods for determining antisperm activity of antisera included complement-fixation, sperm-immobilization, agglutination, and precipitin tests.