Reproduction genetics and immunology
This focuses on preventive pre-conception and prenatal examinations of infertile couples, the prevention of genetic diseases. It consists of specialized genetic counselling, clinical cytogenetics, and molecular genetics. The goal of the reproductive genetics is to enable partners to have a non-disabled child. It defines genetic risks, it includes prenatal genetic diagnostics, in indicated cases this is made as early as in the pre-implantation period. The basic laboratory examination in the reproductive genetics is chromosome examination – determining the karyotype of both partners.
The correct function of the immune system is a basic prerequisite for fertilization and the development of pregnancy. Exclusively immunological causes of fertility disorders occur in 2% to 3% of couples. The best studied ones include antibodies against sperm, ovaries, and zona pellucida (providing the penetration of only one sperm into the ovum). Antibodies against the sperm can be detected in women in their cervical mucus, serum, or in the seminal plasma of infertile men. Antibodies against the ovaries and zona pellucida are diagnosed from the female serum most frequently by empploying the indirect immunofluorescence method.