Summary
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°C to 35°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.
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van den Broek, M.D., Bradshaw, C.M. & Szabadi, E. 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. Eur J Clin Pharmacol 26, 209–213 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00630287
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00630287