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Sweating distribution and active sweat glands on the scalp of young males in hot-dry and hot-humid environments

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Abstract

Purpose

We investigated the effects of humidity on regional sweating secretion and active sweat gland density on the scalp during passive heating in hot environments.

Methods

Eight male subjects shaved their heads prior to expose to dry (30%RH; H30%) and humid (85%RH; H85%) conditions at an air temperature of 32 °C. Total sweat rate, local sweat rates (frontal, vertex, temporal, and occipital regions), active sweat glands on the scalp (2 frontal, 2 parietal, 2 temporal, 1 occipital, and 1 vertex), and rectal and skin temperatures were measured during leg immersion in 42 °C water for 60 min.

Results

(1) Total sweat rates were greater for H30% (179.4 ± 35.6 g h−1) than for H85% (148.1 ± 27.2 g h−1) (P < 0.05). (2) Scalp sweat secretion tended to be greater in the H85% than the H30%. (3) Head sweat rates were greater on the frontal than on the vertex for both humidity conditions (P < 0.05). (4) Active sweat gland density on the scalp was greater for H85% (82 ± 13 glands cm−2) than for H30% (62 ± 17 glands cm−2) (P < 0.05). (5) No significant difference was found in rectal temperature between H30% and H85%, whereas mean skin temperature was significantly lower for H30% (34.8 ± 0.7 °C) than for the H85% condition (36.0 ± 0.3 °C) (P < 0.05).

Conclusions

These results indicate that the thermoregulatory sweating responses for the scalp region were significantly increased in the hot-humid condition compared to the hot-dry condition. Among the regions on the scalp surface, the vertex was the least sensitive to the change in humidity.

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Abbreviations

ASG:

Active sweat glands

HD:

Hot and dry condition

HH:

Hot and humid condition

HR:

Heart rate

LSR:

Local sweat rate

TEWL:

Transepidermal water loss

T re :

Rectal temperature

T sk :

Skin temperature

TSR:

Total sweat rate

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Acknowledgements

We truly appreciate the subjects who shaved their hair for this experiment, and are thankful Yoon-Jeong Huh and Andrew Gorski for their technical support. This research was supported by Aspiring Researcher Program through Seoul National University (SNU) in 2014 and Nano·Material Technology Development Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (no. 2016M3A7B4910).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. COM:FORT Laboratory, College of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 08826, South Korea

    Dahee Jung & Joo-Young Lee

  2. Research Institute of Human Ecology, College of Human Ecology, Seoul National University, Seoul, 08826, South Korea

    Yung-Bin Kim & Joo-Young Lee

  3. Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University, Cheonan, 31151, South Korea

    Jeong-Beom Lee

  4. Lifestyle Science Cluster, Advanced Medical and Dental Institute, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kepala Batas, Penang, Malaysia

    Ahmad Munir Che Muhamed

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  1. Dahee Jung
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Contributions

Its publication has been approved by all co-authors. All authors have contributed to the planning, preparation, data collection, analysis, and the writing of this manuscript, such that their contributions satisfy all requirements of authorship.

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Correspondence to Joo-Young Lee.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures were performed in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Additional information

Communicated by George Havenith.

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Jung, D., Kim, YB., Lee, JB. et al. Sweating distribution and active sweat glands on the scalp of young males in hot-dry and hot-humid environments. Eur J Appl Physiol 118, 2655–2667 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-3988-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-3988-7

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