Does α1-adrenergic receptor blockade modulate sweating during incremental exercise in young endurance-trained men?

European Journal of Applied Physiology volume 120, pages1123–1129(2020)Cite this article

Abstract

Purpose

Human eccrine sweat glands respond to α1-adrenergic receptor agonists. We recently reported that adrenergic mechanisms contribute to sweating in endurance-trained men during an incremental exercise to volitional fatigue. However, it remains unclear if this response is mediated by α1-adrenergic receptor activation.

Methods

Twelve endurance-trained men performed an incremental cycling bout until exhaustion while wearing a water-perfused suit to clamp skin temperature at ~ 34 °C. Bilateral forearm sweat rates were measured wherein the distal area was treated with either 1% terazosin (α1-adrenergic receptor antagonist) or saline solution on the opposite limb (Control) via transdermal iontophoresis. We also measured proximal bilateral forearm sweat rate in untreated sites to confirm that no between-limb differences in forearm sweat rate occurred. Once sweat rate returned to pre-exercise resting levels at ~ 20 min postexercise, 0.25% phenylephrine (α1-adrenergic receptor agonist) was iontophoretically administered to skin to verify α1-adrenergic receptor blockade.

Results

Sweat rates at the proximal untreated right and left forearm sites were similar during exercise (interaction, P = 0.581). Similarly, no effect of terazosin on sweat rate was measured relative to control site (interaction, P = 0.848). Postexercise administration of phenylephrine increased sweat rate at the control site (0.08 ± 0.09 mg cm−2 min−1), which was suppressed by ~ 90% at the terazosin-treated site (0.01 ± 0.02 mg cm−2 min−1) (P = 0.026), confirming that α1-adrenergic receptor blockade was intact.

Conclusion

Our findings demonstrate that α1-adrenergic receptors located at eccrine sweat glands do not contribute to eccrine sweating during incremental exercise in young endurance-trained men.

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Fig. 1
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Abbreviations

ANOVA:

Analysis of variance

HR:

Heart rate

T co :

Core temperature

T sk :

Mean skin temperature

\(\dot{V}O_{2}\) :

Rate of oxygen consumption

\(\dot{V}O_{{2{\text{peak}}}}\) :

Peak rate of oxygen consumption

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Acknowledgements

We thank our volunteer subjects for participating in this study. We would like thank Dr. Tomoyuki Yokoyama for the medical support provided.

Funding

This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (No. 18H03146) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology of Japan.

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Exercise and Environmental Physiology, Faculty of Education, Niigata University, Igarashi-Ninocho, Nishiku, Niigata, 8050, Japan

    Tatsuro Amano

  2. Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba City, Japan

    Naoto Fujii

  3. Human and Environmental Physiology Research Unit, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada

    Glen P. Kenny

  4. Laboratory for Human Performance Research, Osaka International University, Osaka, Japan

    Yoshimitsu Inoue

  5. Laboratory for Applied Human Physiology, Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University, Kobe, Japan

    Narihiko Kondo

Authors
  1. Tatsuro Amano
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  2. Naoto Fujii
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  3. Glen P. Kenny
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  4. Yoshimitsu Inoue
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  5. Narihiko Kondo
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Contributions

Conception, design of research, data collection, and data analyses were undertaken by TA, the manuscript was drafted by TA, NF, and GPK and all authors (TA, NF, YI, and NK) contributed to data interpretation, editing and revision of manuscript, and approved the final version.

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Correspondence to Tatsuro Amano.

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Amano, T., Fujii, N., Kenny, G.P. et al. Does α1-adrenergic receptor blockade modulate sweating during incremental exercise in young endurance-trained men?. Eur J Appl Physiol 120, 1123–1129 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-020-04351-3

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Keywords

  • Thermoregulation
  • Eccrine sweat glands
  • Sympathetic nerves
  • Adrenoceptor
  • Cholinoceptor