Effect of low-dose prednisolone on sperm fertilizing capacity in subfertile men with circulating antisperm antibodies.

To assess if low-dose prednisolone reduced circulating antisperm antibodies and improved sperm fertilizing capacity, the hamster oocyte penetration test (HOPT) was used to evaluate treatment in 36 males with significant serum antisperm antibodies, measured by the tray agglutination test (TAT). Prednisolone 5 mg three times a day for 3 months was used. Only couples in whom all tests in the female partner were normal were entered into the study. A significant increase in sperm density, normal morphology, and HOPT were noted after therapy (p < .001). A significant decrease in antisperm antibody titer was noted (p < .0001) and correlated with improvement of HOPT (p < .05). There were no significant side effects. Six pregnancies (17%) occurred. Three pregnancies (18%) occurred in partners of an untreated group of 17 men. Prednisolone therapy in this regime does not significantly improve pregnancy rates. The HOPT does not offer any additional information for predicting patients who will show an improvement in antibody titers or achieve pregnancy after steroids.