The effects of a psychological "stressor" and raised ambient temperature on the pharmacological responsiveness of human eccrine sweat glands: implications for sweat gland hyper-responsiveness in anxiety states.
The responsiveness of eccrine sweat glands to local intradermal injections of carbachol was studied in six male healthy volunteers using a plastic paint impression method. A psychological "stressor" (performance of a mental arithmetic task) resulted in an increase in the sizes of the responses evoked by carbachol, this being reflected in a higher value of Emax obtained under the "stress" than under the "non-stress" condition. A rise in ambient temperature from 20 degrees C to 35 degrees C resulted in qualitatively similar effects on the dose-response curve. These results are discussed in the context of recent observations on the pharmacological responsiveness of sweat glands in patients suffering from anxiety neurosis.
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002217:Carbachol / Q000494:pharmacology; D004439:Eccrine Glands / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013545:Sweat Glands / Q000187:drug effects*
D002217:Carbachol