OBJECTIVETo observe the effects of Chinese traditional medicine Yi Kang Ling (YKL) on immunity infertility caused by anti-sperm antibodies (AsAb).

METHODSWith the AsAb infertile rabbit as the experimental model, seventy-five pairs of New zealand rabbits were divided into three group including YKL treatment group (sub-divided into mini-, midi- and maxi-dosage groups), prednisone treatment group and non-treatment group. Rabbits of the YKL treatment sub-groups were further divided into M+F- (male positive, female negative), M-F+, (male negative, female positive) and M+F+ (male positive, female positive) pairs according to their initial AsAb detection results. The control group consisted of five pairs of normal rabbits. When the expected AsAb reversing ratio was achieved, the rabbits were matted and observed for the number of the pregnant and the weight of the newborn.

RESULTSStatistics showed that in M+F- pairs both the midi-dosage of YKL and prednisone treatment groups had fertility, in the mini- and maxi-dosage of YKL treatment groups, 20% of the female rabbits failed to be pregnant, while in the non-treatment group, 60% female rabbits remained sterile. The sterile ratios of the M-F+ pairs in the mini-, midi- and maxi-dosage of YKL and prednisone treatment groups were 0, 20%, 25% and 25%, respectively, while the sterile ratio in the non-treatment M-F+ group was 40%. In M+F+ groups, the sterile ratios of the three YKL sub-groups, prednisone treatment and non-treatment groups were 20%, 20% and 60% respectively. In the control group the sterile ratio was 20%. The weight of the newborn rabbits were around 50 grams with no visible malformation.

CONCLUSIONSYKL can effectively reverse the AsAb positive results, and restore the fertility of female rabbits. Mini-dosage of YKL for 45 days produced the best results and maxi-dosage of YKL had no negative effects on the weight of the newborn rabbit.