No increase in arteriolosclerotic retinopathy or activity in tests for circulating immune complexes 5 years after vasectomy.

On the basis of studies in monkeys, the hypothesis has been proposed that vasectomy induces the formation of circulating immune complexes (CICs), which--via activation of the complement system--may result in immune injury of the endothelium and thereby exacerbate atherosclerosis; the same mechanism has been suggested to cause retinal arteriolar changes in vasectomized men. We compared 46 men, 5 years after vasectomy, with 46 age-matched control subjects and found no difference in the distribution of arteriolosclerotic retinopathy gradings evaluated by ophthalmoscopy and fundus photography. Blood samples from the two groups were collected and handled identically, and no significant difference in activity was found in four different tests for CICs and two tests for split products of complement factor C3. Thus, the results do not support the hypothesis that changes mediated by CICs occur in vessels after human vasectomy.