The MAR test is an additional diagnostic method for determining the root cause of a man’s sexual health problems. In most cases, doctors prescribe it when the traditional spermogram did not provide clear results. Testing is also carried out if the doctor wants to be completely convinced of some rare diagnosis, and classical analyzes are not able to reflect the full clinical picture due to its features.
Spermogram provides data on standard parameters, such as the viscosity of biological material, sperm motility, percentage of active and correctly formed. MAR helps to find the possible cause of infertility at the immunological level. For this, antisperm antibodies are used.
Medical indications
To make such an analysis with extended information content of patients is prompted by the inability to find the cause of infertility in other ways. Often the inability to conceive is due to problems at the immune level.
In the male reproductive organs – appendages and testicles – three types of immunoglobulins are formed: IgM, IgG, IgA.
As an antigen, the membrane of the spermatozoon is applicable to them. If she fails to block the antibodies, then the sperm becomes incapable of conception. From a physiological point of view, the process is explained by the formation of an antisperm membrane on the surface of spermatozoa. It is she who slows down, or completely stops spermatozoa. Such a negative effect does not allow a man to become a father, even if he is doing well in all other aspects of health.
To confirm or refute the doctor’s guesses, the patient is sent to take a MAP test. It is based on the determination of the presence or absence of those same immunoglobulins from class G, which are localized on the sperm surface. Sometimes a Kruger test is added to the classic test at the immune level to detail the results.
It is a check at a more subtle level that qualitatively distinguishes the study of the new generation from the classic spermogram. The latter lets in spermatozoa with antisperm antibodies, showing that everything is in order with them. According to the analyzes, it turns out that everything is fine, but in practice, a man cannot conceive a baby due to the inability of spermatozoa to become a catalyst for normal fertilization.
An innovative examination allows you to determine the exact titer of problematic immunoglobulins, as well as percentages of how much normal biological material the male body is still capable of producing. The result, which should be immediately transferred to the hands of the attending physician, allows, with a minimum error, to calculate the number of active and ready for fertilization spermatozoa.
Indications for the MAR test:
- sperm agglutination;
- aggregation;
- reduced mobility;
- decrease in the viability of sperm;
- infertility of a couple with normal indicators of sexual health in both;
- preparation for in vitro fertilization.
The analysis may be prescribed to confirm existing diagnoses, but this is solely based on the results of other examinations and the experience of the treating specialist.
How does the MAR test work?
MAP for greater productivity always provides for the evaluation of not only sperm, but also blood serum. ELISA technology is used to search for antisperm bodies. The doctor tells the patient about it at the preparatory stage. No special measures are required from the patient before donating blood.
The price for both control cuts is usually calculated as a total amount.
What the finished result shows is unlikely to be able to decipher on your own, so it is better to transfer the raw information immediately into the hands of the treating expert. If he insists that some other type of additional research is worth doing, then it is better not to resist the recommendation.
In order to collect a sufficient amount of concentrated liquid from the first time, you will need to follow a few simple rules – give up the following things:
- Intercourse five days before the intended procedure.
- Drinking alcoholic beverages, as well as stop smoking at least a week before the appointed date. In general, urologists insist that nicotine and alcohol-containing drinks in themselves have a negative effect on the ability of spermatozoa to be active. Refusal of them in seven days will allow you to assess the quality of sperm, and ideally, for healthy offspring, doctors advise completely forgetting about bad habits.
- Taking pharmacological drugs a week before the examination. But here you should first consult a doctor, and it is strictly forbidden to cancel a previously approved treatment program on your own.
- Going to the bath or sauna.
- Physical activity like going to the gym for about a week. You should also, if possible, eliminate stressful situations, work on the normalization of sleep.
On the day of the manipulation, the man will receive detailed instructions on how to collect sperm through masturbation. It is necessary to collect the material in a special sterile container, which is equipped with a screw cap for better preservation of the contents.
If the biological fluid was not taken within the walls of the clinic, then the material under study must be delivered to the laboratory no later than one hour after collection. To maintain objectivity, the contents of the jar should be kept warm.
You can pick up the encrypted results the next day. But since doctors usually insist on a double MAP format, it is worth preparing for the fact that you will have to conduct an examination again in about two weeks.
Help with decryption
Especially men are interested in the norm, which in healthy representatives of the stronger sex provides for the complete absence of spermatozoa with antisperm antibodies. But this happens quite rarely, since bad habits and factors of external negative influence do not allow to achieve an ideal picture.
Because of this, parameters up to 50% of antisperm immunoglobulins are considered good indicators, which implies an almost problem-free ability to conceive an heir.
But the mark that the test is positive is a bad sign. This suggests that over 50% of the spermatozoa were unable to fertilize the female germ cells. Such a scenario increases the percentage of possible male infertility several times from an immunological point of view.
But here it is important to pay attention also to where the problematic immunoglobulins were specifically fixed. If they are localized anywhere, but not in the head, then this does not put an end to attempts to acquire offspring in the traditional way.
When the decoding provides for a 100% result, then the probability of pregnancy in a sexual partner drops to almost zero. The situation can be corrected by applying the ECO-ICSI technology. But here, too, there is one caveat: if the result showed from 50% to 80%, then the frequency of fertilization during IVF is declining. At a level of 100%, only ECO-ICSI is prescribed.
Men are also sent there, in whom less than 500 motile spermatozoa were found in the ejaculate. Also, the procedure will help those who suffer from impaired mobility or abnormal sperm acrosomes. When MAP shows that less than 1% of spermatozoa have a standard morphology, then this is also an occasion to find out more about alternative fertilization options.