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The scrotum regulates the temperature of the testicles and maintains it at 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit), i.e. two or three degrees below the body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius (99 degrees Fahrenheit). Higher temperatures affect spermatogenesis. [12]
Cremaster is an involuntary muscle, responsible for the cremasteric reflex; a protective and physiologic superficial reflex of the testicles. The reflex raises and lowers the testicles in order to keep them protected. Along with the dartos muscle of the scrotum, it regulates testicular temperature, thus aiding the process of spermatogenesis. [1]
In the scrotum, the dartos fascia acts to regulate the temperature of the testicles, which promotes spermatogenesis. It does this by expanding or contracting to wrinkle the scrotal skin. Contraction reduces the surface area available for heat loss, thus reducing heat loss and warming the testicles.
In addition to its function in venous return from the testes, the pampiniform plexus also plays a role in the temperature regulation of the testes. It acts as a countercurrent heat exchanger, cooling blood in adjacent arteries. An abnormal enlargement of the pampiniform plexus is a medical condition called varicocele.
Some men have medical conditions that impair testicular testosterone production, such as Klinefelter’s syndrome. This type of testosterone deficiency is known as primary testicular failure or ...
Cryptorchidism, or "undescended testicles", is when the testicle does not descend into the scrotum of an infant boy. [30] Testicular enlargement is an unspecific sign of various testicular diseases, and can be defined as a testicular size of more than 5 cm × 3 cm (short axis). [42]
During times of lower temperatures, the cremaster muscle contracts and pulls the scrotum closer to the body, while the dartos fascia gives it a wrinkled appearance; when the temperature increases, the cremaster and dartos fascia relax to bring down the scrotum away from the body and remove the wrinkles respectively.
It works involuntarily. Its role is to bring the testicles down if the body temperature rises or to raise them if the body temperature drops. This process allows it to regulate the temperature of the testicles and to keep it several degrees lower than that of the body in order to enable an ideal spermatogenesis. [17] [18]