[The behavior of sperm antibody titers after immunization of guinea pigs with their own sperm and after experimental unilateral cryptorchism].

Four guinea pigs were immunized against sperms from their own epididymis. The titers of autoantibodies against the sperms in the tubuli of the parenchyma testis increased after 4 weeks. The heads of sperms were also gummed up. The left testis of another 7 guinea pigs were shifted into the abdominal cavity. These animals showed also increasing autoantibody-titer. The observations demonstrated, that the blood-testis-barrier is a physiological one for the autoantibodies. At higher temperatures, as with cryptorchid testes, this barrier becomes permeable for antibodies so that infertility can result.