Vega José A, Aiello Vincenzo, Martín-Cruces José, Suazo Iván, Jones Ryan, Musa William, Szebeni-Varga Beatrix, García-Suárez Olivia, García-Mesa Yolanda
Departamento de Morfología y Biología Celular, Grupo SINPOS, Universidad de Oviedo, 33003 Oviedo, Spain.
Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma de Chile, Providencia Área Metropolitana, Santiago 750012, Chile.
J Clin Med. 2025 Jul 4;14(13):4730. doi: 10.3390/jcm14134730.
: The male prepuce that covers the glans penis is richly innervated by low-threshold mechanoreceptors, which form cutaneous end-organ complexes (Meissner, Pacinian and Ruffini corpuscles) and mucous end-organ complexes (especially Krause-like corpuscles). The mechanosensory inputs from these formations are the beginning for spinal reflexes that regulate movements of intercourse and erection and, therefore, are required for sexual function. The study was aimed at analyzing the age-dependent changes in prepuce innervation. : Here we used immunohistochemistry to investigate whether the innervation of the male prepuce undergoes age-dependent changes, analyzing subjects aged 4 months to 61 years. : Abundant Meissner corpuscles and Krause-like corpuscles were regularly found whose morphology, size, and topography were variable and were not correlated with age; however, Ruffini's and Pacinian corpuscles were scarcely observed. The earliest evidence of Meissner corpuscles was observed at 4 months, and thereafter they undergo significant age-dependent variations in density. Until the age of 20 years increases progressively, remains stable until 40 years, and then the density decreases. Meissner's corpuscle index paralleled that of density. Regarding Kause-like corpuscles already resemble the skin of 4-month-old subjects and from the age of 3 years they can be identified at all ages. Its density significantly increased until 10 years and then remained stable. : Present results state that the mechanosensory innervation of the human foreskin reaches its maximum value around the age of 20, remains stable during adulthood and decreases with maturity. These findings contribute to a more complete understanding of foreskin innervation and add to the scientific knowledge base surrounding the potential harm of removing a richly innervated structure.
覆盖阴茎头的男性包皮由低阈值机械感受器丰富地支配，这些感受器形成皮肤终末器官复合体（迈斯纳小体、帕西尼小体和鲁菲尼小体）和黏膜终末器官复合体（特别是类克劳泽小体）。来自这些结构的机械感觉输入是调节性交和勃起运动的脊髓反射的起始，因此是性功能所必需的。该研究旨在分析包皮神经支配的年龄依赖性变化。：在这里，我们使用免疫组织化学来研究男性包皮的神经支配是否会发生年龄依赖性变化，分析了4个月至61岁的受试者。：经常发现大量的迈斯纳小体和类克劳泽小体，其形态、大小和分布位置各不相同，且与年龄无关；然而，鲁菲尼小体和帕西尼小体很少被观察到。迈斯纳小体最早在4个月时被观察到，此后它们在密度上经历显著的年龄依赖性变化。直到20岁密度逐渐增加，40岁之前保持稳定，然后密度下降。迈斯纳小体指数与密度变化趋势一致。关于类克劳泽小体，在3岁时就已类似于4个月大受试者的皮肤，并且在所有年龄段都可被识别。其密度在10岁之前显著增加，然后保持稳定。：目前的结果表明，人类包皮的机械感觉神经支配在20岁左右达到最大值，在成年期保持稳定，并随着成熟而下降。这些发现有助于更全面地理解包皮神经支配，并增加了围绕切除一个神经丰富结构潜在危害的科学知识库。
