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García-Piqueras JAuthor

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October 2, 2023
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Sensory innervation of the human male prepuce: Meissner's corpuscles predominate

Publicated to:JOURNAL OF ANATOMY. 239 (4): 892-902 - 2021-10-01 239(4), DOI: 10.1111/joa.13481

Authors: Garcia-Mesa, Yolanda; Garcia-Piqueras, Jorge; Cobo, Ramon; Martin-Cruces, Jose; Suazo, Ivan; Garcia-Suarez, Olivia; Feito, Jorge; Vega, Jose A

Affiliations

Complejo Hosp Univ Salamanca, Serv Anat Patol, Salamanca, Spain - Author
Univ Autonoma Chile, Fac Ciencias Salud, Santiago, Chile - Author
Univ Oviedo, Dept Morfol & Biol Celular, Grp SINPOS, Oviedo, Spain - Author
Univ Salamanca, Dept Anat & Histol Humanas, Salamanca, Spain - Author
Universidad Autónoma de Chile , Universidad de Oviedo - Author
Universidad de Oviedo - Author
Universidad de Salamanca , Universidad de Oviedo - Author
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Abstract

Meissner's corpuscles are the most abundant sensory corpuscles in the glabrous skin of the male prepuce. They are type I, rapidly adapting, low-threshold mechanoreceptors, and their function is linked to the expression of the mechanoprotein piezo-type mechanosensitive ion channel component 2 (PIEZO2). Stimulation of genital Meissner's corpuscles gives rise to sexual sensations. It has been recently demonstrated that digital Meissner's corpuscles, Meissner-like corpuscles, and genital end bulbs have an endoneurium-like capsule surrounding their neuronal elements; that is, the axon and glial lamellar cells, and their axons, display PIEZO2 immunoreactivity. It is unknown whether this is also the case for preputial Meissner's corpuscles. Furthermore, the expression of certain proteins that have been found in Meissner's corpuscles at other anatomical locations, especially in the digits, has not been investigated in preputial Meissner's corpuscles. Here, we used immunohistochemistry to investigate the expression of axonal (neurofilament, neuron-specific enolase), glial (S100 protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein, vimentin), endoneurial (CD34), and perineurial (glucose transporter 1) markers in the preputial and digital Meissner's corpuscles of male participants aged between 5 and 23 years. Furthermore, we investigated the occurrence of the mechanoprotein PIEZO2 in male preputial Meissner's corpuscles. Human male prepuce contains numerous Meissner's corpuscles, which may be grouped or isolated and are regularly distributed in the dermal papillae. Lamellar glial cells display strong expression of S100 protein and vimentin but lack expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein. In addition, they show axonal PIEZO2 expression and have an endoneurial capsule, but no perineurial. Our results indicate that human male preputial Meissner's corpuscles share the immunohistochemical profile of digital Meissner's corpuscles, which is considered to be necessary for mechanotransduction. These data strongly suggest that the structure and function of Meissner's corpuscles are independent of their anatomical location.

Keywords

capsulecircumcisiondensityhumanion channelsmale prepucemeissner's corpusclesmeissner’s corpusclesmerkel cellsneuronspiezo2receptorssensationtouchAdolescentAdultCapsuleChildChild, preschoolDecreases penile sensitivityHumanHumansImmunohistochemistryMaleMale prepuceMechanoreceptorsMechanotransduction, cellularMeissner’s corpusclesPeripheral nervesPiezo2SkinYoung adult

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal JOURNAL OF ANATOMY due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2021, it was in position 4/21, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Anatomy & Morphology.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 3.72. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 2.32 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 4.69 (source consulted: Dimensions Aug 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-08-03, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 14
  • Scopus: 16
  • Europe PMC: 9

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-08-03:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 19.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 19 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 83.6.
  • The number of mentions on the social network Facebook: 1 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 102 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions on Wikipedia: 7 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Chile.

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: Last Author (Vega JA).

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Vega JA.