Association, prevalence, and clearance of human papillomavirus and antisperm antibodies in infected semen samples from infertile patients

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate prevalence, association, and clearance of human papillomavirus (HPV) and antisperm antibodies (ASAs) in infected semen samples from infertile patients. DESIGN: Cross-sectional clinical study. SETTING: Andrology and microbiology sections at a university hospital. PATIENT(S): Three groups of subjects: 61 infertile patients with HPV semen infection, 104 noninfected infertile subjects, and 92 control subjects. INTERVENTION(S): Semen analysis, spermMar test, fluorescence in situ hybridization for sperm aneuploidy and for HPV, and immunofluorescence for HPV 16-L1 and immunoglobulins (IgA, IgG, and IgM) determination. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Association of sperm procedures, HPV sperm infection, sperm aneuploidies, and sperm ASAs. RESULT(S): Infertile patients with HPV semen infection showed high percentages of ASAs. In these patients HPV sperm infection was associated with lower sperm motility, which was worse in subjects with ASAs. No alterations of sperm chromosomes were observed. To obtain a significant clearance of both HPV sperm infection and ASAs at least 24 months of follow-up were needed. CONCLUSION(S): Human papillomavirus has been recently suggested to have an important role in male infertility. This study demonstrated that HPV sperm infection can be long lasting and frequently associated with ASAs that may further reduce male fertility. Infertile patients with positive spermMar test results should be considered for investigation for HPV, especially if they are candidates for assisted reproduction.