la circuncision quita las celulas de Langerhans ,buscadas por el HIV

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Circumcision Removes Langerhans Cells Targeted by HIV

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By Martha Kerr

CHICAGO (Reuters Health) May 01 - Circumcision protects against HIV infection because the foreskin contains a high density of Langerhans cells, an established avenue of HIV infection, urologists reported here at the American Urological Association annual meeting.

The finding comes from a study conducted at the Royal Victoria Hospital and the University of Melbourne, Australia. "Our aim was to determine the...Langerhans cell distribution of the remnant foreskin epithelium in circumcised adult men, and compare this to the epithelium of the inner foreskin and penile shaft," Dr. Sandra L. Hallamore noted.

She pointed out that circumcision creates a "remnant foreskin -- a small cuff of skin around the base of the glans penis." The investigators took 2 mm biopsies from the inner foreskin of 10 uncircumcised men, and from the remnant foreskin and penile shaft of 10 circumcised men.

The team found that inner foreskin has a significantly higher density of Langerhans cells than residual areas of the foreskin.

"The removal of this high density of HIV target cells, and the subsequent formation of a remnant foreskin with low Langerhans cell density, may explain the reduction in HIV transmission with adult circumcision," Dr. Hallamore told attendees. "The reduction in HIV transmission does not appear to be related to a thinner or poorly keratinized inner foreskin epithelium," she added.