Circumcision is a method performed by urologists or plastic surgeons, which consists in the total or partial removal of the foreskin, the strip of sliding skin that covers the glans. Very widespread among Jews and in several African countries, it is not a common practice in Western populations, except in cases where it is required to solve a medical problem (such as, for example, phimosis and scleroatrophic lichen).
According to a group of scientists from the Institute of Translational Genomic Research (TGen) in Phoenix, Arizona, reducing the bacterial population on the penis, obtainable after circumcision, would also have a protective effect on the transmission of HIV . Their study argues that bacteria present on the male genital organ may facilitate the recruitment of target cells ( CD4 T lymphocytes ). From the anatomical point of view, in fact, the inner surface of the foreskin is slightly keratinized and presents numerous Langerhans cells, elements of the immune system specialized in nonspecific defense, but above all susceptible to HIV infection and capable of presenting the antigen to CD4 lymphocytes . In other words, Langerhans cells facilitate delivery of the virus responsible for AIDS to T lymphocytes . According to the group of scientists, therefore, circumcision - reducing the number of Langerhans cells - would lower the risk of infection.
