[Frontiers in Bioscience S2, 685-696, January 1, 2010]

Mechanisms and controllers of eccrine sweating in humans

Manabu Shibasaki1, Craig G. Crandall2,3

1Department of Environmental and Life Sciences, Nara Women's University Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences, Nara Japan, 2Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, 3Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine, Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, TX

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Abstract
2. Introduction
2. Introduction and historical perspective
3. Neural pathway from the brain to sweat gland
4. Non-thermal modulators of sweat rate
4.1. Effect of exercise in modulating sweat rate
4.2. Effect of baroreceptors in modulating sweat rate
4.3. Effect of body fluid status and osmolality on sweat rate
5. Summary
6. Acknowledgement
7. References

1. ABSTRACT

Human body temperature is regulated within a very narrow range. When exposed to hyperthermic conditions, via environmental factors and/or increased metabolism, heat dissipation becomes vital for survival. In humans, the primary mechanism of heat dissipation, particularly when ambient temperature is higher than skin temperature, is evaporative heat loss secondary to sweat secretion from eccrine glands. While the primary controller of sweating is the integration between internal and skin temperatures, a number of non-thermal factors modulate the sweating response. In addition to summarizing the current understanding of the neural pathways from the brain to the sweat gland, as well as responses at the sweat gland, this review will highlight findings pertaining to studies of proposed non-thermal modifiers of sweating, namely, exercise, baroreceptor loading state, and body fluid status. Information from these studies not only provides important insight pertaining to the basic mechanisms of sweating, but also perhaps could be useful towards a greater understanding of potential mechanisms and consequences of disease states as well as aging in altering sweating responses and thus temperature regulation.