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→Hardened skin hypothesis: Insert link; change name of section.
Various hypotheses have been suggested in regards to the mechanism whereby circumcision prevents the tarnsmission of HIV. They have all been disproven, however, and all of the "studies" attempting to establish a causal link between circumcion and HIV transmission remain unsubstantiated by a working hypothesis.
==== Hardened skin Keratinization hypothesis ====Perhaps the oldest hypothesis on the mechanism whereby circumcision prevents the transmission of HIV is the theory that suggests that the [[Keratinization| keratinized ]] surface of the penis in circumcised male resists infection, while the mucosa of the glans and inner of the intact male are ports of entry, which was purported by [[Aaron J. Fink]].
Recent studies, however, disprove this hypothesis. One study found that there is "no difference between the keratinization of the inner and outer aspects of the adult male foreskin," and that "keratin layers alone were unlikely to explain why uncircumcised men are at higher risk for HIV infection."<ref>{{REFjournal