Spermagglutination and Spermagglutinating Activity of Serum and Tissue Extracts from Reproductive Organs in Male Dogs Experimentally Infected with Brucella canis

Abstract

Four adult male beagle dogs were inoculated orally with 3.2×10⁸ Brucella canis. Agglutination of spermatozoa, head-to-head type, was found in the urine from the 11th to 19th week after the inoculation. Similar spermagglutination was observed in flush out fluids from the epididymal channel of 2 dogs at autopsy. Spermagglutinating activity was detected in sera by the Shulman's capillary tube method. The duration and strength of the agglutinating activity varied by dogs. The activity was also detected in extracts of testis and epididymis and in a flush out fluid from the epididymal channel of one dog. Fractionation experiments by gel filtration using Sephadex G-200 and preparative zone electrophoresis of the sera and the extracts showed that the spermagglutinating activity resided in immunoglobulin fractions. The spermagglutinating activity was not due to the agglutinating antibody to B. canis antigen and was heat stable at 56°C for 30 min. These results suggest that the spermagglutination might be caused by the anti-sperm autoanti-body. It was proposed that the spermagglutination might be a part of various causes of infertility of male dogs due to infection with B. canis.