Incidence of infertility of immune origin in a group of marriages with unexplained infertility.

This study was designed to estimate the incidence of infertility of immune origin in a group of 102 married couples with unexplained infertility, out of a total of 1346 couples being treated for infertility. The tests included microagglutination of spermatozoa, microzone sera immunoelectrophoresis and sera immunodiffusion methods. In this group the sera of 23 (22.55%) women and 21 (20.58%) men contained antibodies, and these seemed to be the only cause of infertility. In relation to the total number of 1346 couples, infertility of immune origin was found in 1.70% of female and 1.56% of male partners. Conjugal immune-origin infertility was present in 0.56% of marriages. Out of 1346 treated infertile marriages, an immunologic factor was evidently the only cause of infertility in 2.57%.