Editing Smegma (section)

==Males==
[[File:Smegma Penis02.mirrored.jpg|thumb|[[Human penis]] with visible smegma behind the glans|165x165px]]

In males, smegma helps keep the [[Glans penis|glans]] moist and facilitates [[sexual intercourse]] by acting as a lubricant.<ref name="Wright1970">
{{cite journal
 |last=Wright |first=J.
 |date=September 1970
 |title=How smegma serves the penis: Nature's assurance that the uncircumcised glans penis will function smoothly is provided by smegma
 |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/normal/wright1/
 |journal=Sexology
 |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=50–53
 |name-list-style=vanc
}}</ref><ref name="VanHowesmegma">
{{cite journal
 |last1=Van Howe |first1=R. S.
 |last2=Hodges |first2=F. M.
 |date=October 2006
 |title=The carcinogenicity of smegma: debunking a myth
 |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/disease/cancer/vanhowe2006
 |journal=Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology
 |volume=20 |issue=9 |pages=1046–1054
 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-3083.2006.01653.x
 |pmid=16987256
 |s2cid=22840346
 |name-list-style=vanc
}}</ref><ref name="Fleiss">
{{cite journal
 |last1=Fleiss |first1=P. M.
 |last2=Hodges |first2=F. M.
 |last3=Van Howe |first3=R. S.
 |date=October 1998
 |title=Immunological functions of the human prepuce
 |journal=Sexually Transmitted Infections
 |volume=74 |issue=5 |pages=364–367
 |doi=10.1136/sti.74.5.364
 |pmc=1758142
 |pmid=10195034
 |name-list-style=vanc
}}</ref>

Smegma was originally thought to be produced by [[sebaceous gland]]s near the [[Penile frenulum|frenulum]] called [[Preputial gland|Tyson's glands]]; however, subsequent studies have failed to find these glands.<ref name="Parkashsmegma">
{{cite journal
 |last1=Parkash |first1=Satya
 |last2=Jeyakumar |first2=S.
 |last3=Subramanyan |first3=K.
 |last4=Chaudhuri |first4=S.
 |date=August 1973
 |title=Human subpreputial collection: its nature and formation
 |url=http://www.cirp.org/library/anatomy/parkash/
 |journal=Journal of Urology
 |volume=110 |issue=2 |pages=211–212
 |doi=10.1016/s0022-5347(17)60164-2
 |pmid=4722614
 |name-list-style=vanc
}}</ref> Joyce Wright states that smegma is produced from minute microscopic protrusions of the mucosal surface of the foreskin and that living cells constantly grow towards the surface, undergo fatty degeneration, separate off, and form smegma.<ref name="Wright1970"/> Parkash ''et al.'' found that smegma contains 26.6% fats and 13.3% proteins, which they judged to be consistent with necrotic epithelial debris.<ref name="Parkashsmegma"/> 

Newly produced smegma has a smooth, moist texture. It is thought to be rich in [[squalene]]<ref>
{{cite journal
 |last1=O'Neill |first1=H. J.
 |last2=Gershbein |first2=L. L.
 |year=1976
 |title=Lipids of human and equine smegma
 |journal=Oncology
 |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=161–166
 |doi=10.1159/000225134
 |pmid=1018879
 |name-list-style=vanc
}}</ref> and contain prostatic and seminal secretions, desquamated [[epithelial cells]], and the mucin content of the [[Urethral gland|urethral glands of Littré]].<ref name="Fleiss"/> Smegma contains [[cathepsin B]], [[lysozymes]],<ref>
{{cite journal
 |last1=Frohlich |first1=E.
 |last2=Schaumburg-Lever |first2=G.
 |last3=Klessen |first3=C.
 |date=1993
 |title=Immunelectron microscopic localization of cathepsin B in human exocrine glands
 |journal=Journal of Cutaneous Pathology
 |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=54–60
 |doi=10.1111/j.1600-0560.1993.tb01250.x
 |pmid=8468418
 |s2cid=1326013
 |name-list-style=vanc
}}</ref> chymotrypsin, neutrophil elastase<!-- This is possibly not stated in the reference - chymotrypsin and neutrophil elastase is not stated as found in smegma in the abstract --> and [[cytokines]], which aid the immune system.<ref>
{{cite journal
 |last1=Chukwuemeka Anyanwu |first1=Lofty-John
 |last2=Kashibu |first2=Emmanuel
 |last3=Edwin |first3=Chinagozi Precious
 |last4=Mohammad |first4=Aminu Mohammad
 |year=2012
 |title=Microbiology of smegma in boys in Kano, Nigeria
 |journal=Journal of Surgical Research
 |volume=173 |issue=1 |pages=21–25
 |doi=10.1016/j.jss.2011.04.057
 |pmid=21872267
 |name-list-style=vanc
}}</ref>

According to Wright, the production of smegma, which is low in childhood, increases from adolescence until sexual maturity when the function of smegma for lubrication assumes its full value. From middle-age, production starts to decline and in old age virtually no smegma is produced.<ref name="Wright1970"/> Jakob Øster reported that the incidence of smegma increased from 1% among 6- to 9-year-olds to 8% among 14- to 17-year-olds (amongst those who did not present with [[phimosis]] and could be examined).<ref name=":0">
{{cite journal |last1=Oster |first1=J. |name-list-style=vanc |date=April 1968 |title=Further fate of the foreskin. Incidence of preputial adhesions, phimosis, and smegma among Danish schoolboys |journal=Archives of Disease in Childhood |volume=43 |issue=228 |pages=200–3 |doi=10.1136/adc.43.228.200 |pmc=2019851 |pmid=5689532 |quote="The production of smegma increases from the age of 12-13, but our actual figures of the incidence of smegma can only be of limited significance, as the boys received regular instruction about preputial hygiene."}}</ref>