Sweat glands

Decreased sweat secretion is a primary side effect of topiramate in pediatric patients, but the mechanism underlying this effect remains unclear. This study aimed to better understand how topiramate decreases sweat secretion by examining its effect on the expression of carbonic anhydrase (CA) II and aquaporin-5 (AQP5), total CA activity, as well as on tissue morphology of sweat glands in mice. Both developing and mature mice were treated with a low (20 mg/kg/day) and high dose (80 mg/kg/day) of topiramate for 4 weeks. Sweat secretion was investigated by an established technique of examining mold impressions of hind paws. CA II and AQP5 expression levels were determined by immunofluorescence and immunoblotting and CA activity by a colorimetric assay. In mature mice, topiramate treatment decreased the number of pilocarpine reactive sweat glands from baseline in both the low and high dose groups by 83% and 75%, respectively. A similar decrease was seen in developing mice. Mature mice w...

Porcine skin is increasingly being employed as a model of human skin in various research fields, including pharmacology, toxicology and immunology, with particular interest in percutaneous permeation and organ transplantation. Porcine skin shows several anatomical and physiological similarities, but also some differences, with human skin, but few in depth comparative studies are so far available. To study the immunohistochemical properties of normal porcine skin in comparison with human skin. We performed a histological and immunohistochemical study on frozen and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded skin biopsies from domestic swine and normal human skin, using a panel of 93 monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies recognizing various human and porcine skin cell types or structures. We found that several antibodies used to detect normal human skin cells showed equivalent immunoreactivity on normal porcine skin. However, some antibodies commonly used to detect human skin antigens remained un...

Porcine skin is increasingly being employed as a model of human skin in various research fields, including pharmacology, toxicology and immunology, with particular interest in percutaneous permeation and organ transplantation. Porcine skin shows several anatomical and physiological similarities, but also some differences, with human skin, but few in depth comparative studies are so far available. To study the immunohistochemical properties of normal porcine skin in comparison with human skin. We performed a histological and immunohistochemical study on frozen and formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded skin biopsies from domestic swine and normal human skin, using a panel of 93 monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies recognizing various human and porcine skin cell types or structures. We found that several antibodies used to detect normal human skin cells showed equivalent immunoreactivity on normal porcine skin. However, some antibodies commonly used to detect human skin antigens remained un...

A case of eccrine epithelioma is presented. A 62-year-old woman was seen for with a lesion on the left forearm present for 36 years, and complicated by multiple recurrences. Histopathologically, it was composed of numerous small nests of basaloid cells, cystic and syringoid epithelial structures within the reticular dermis and invading the contiguous fat mid muscle tissues. Tubular structures and cystic spaces contained PAS-positive, diastate-resistant, and alcian blue-positive material. Although the tumor was very aggressive locally, no metastasis had occurred throughout its long course.

This study demonstrates post-mortem autolytic alterations in the skin at cellular and subcellular levels and identifies parameters which may assist in determining the time of death in the first few hours post-mortem. Serial skin samples from the ventral surface of the arm were taken at intervals of 3, 6, 9 and 12 h after death in 29 subjects of various ages, with no signs of skin disease; causes of death were various. Three types of tests were performed: cytochemical (hematoxylin-eosin and alcian-PAS), immunohistochemical (S-100, CEA, Cytokeratin, ASM) and ultrastructural (electron microscopy). Electron microscopy proved useful for identifying transformations which were found to be specific for each chronological step considered: reduction of intracellular glycogen in clear cells and reduction of secretory granules in dark cells are typcial signs of the first stage (3 h) after death; mitochondrial dilatation and rarefaction of cristae in clear and dark cells are typical of the second stage (6 h); rarefaction of microvilli in dark and clear cells is a sign of the last stage (12 h). Cytochemistry and immunohistochemistry supply useful information — not for all the chronological stage considered here, but for individual phases (3 h for hematoxylin-eosin and 6 h for alcian-PAS). However, it is particularly important to use the results from all such techniques simultaneously, so that the question of the exact time of death within the first 12 h post-mortem may be more accurately answered. Diese Untersuchung zeigt postmortale autolytische Veränderungen in der Haut auf zellulärer und subzellulärer Ebene und identifiziert Parameter, welche helfen können, die Zeit des Todes in den ersten Stunden postmortem zu bestimmen. Hautproben von der Beugeseite des Arms wurden, 3, 6, 9 und 12. Stunden nach dem Tode von insgesamt 29 Leichen entnommen (verschiedene Altersklassen, keine Zeichen für Hauterkrankungen, verschiedene Todesursachen). Drei Arten der Untersuchungen wurden durchgeführt: zytochemisch (Hematoxylin-Eosin and Alcian-PAS), immunhistochemisch (S-100, CEA, Cytokeratin, ASM) und ultrastrukturell (Elektronenmikroskopie). Die Elektronenmikroskopie erwies sich als nützlich für die Identifizierung von Transformationen die für jeden chronologischen Schritt spezifisch waren: Reduktion des intrazellulären Glykogens in hellen Zellen und Reduktion der sekretorischen Granula in dunklen Zellen sind typische Zeichen für die erste Phase (3 Stunden) nach dem Tode; mitochondriale Dilatation und Rarifizierung der Cristae in hellen und dunklen Zellen sind typisch für die 2. Phase (6 Stunden); Rarifizierung der Microvilli in dunklen und hellen Zellen sind typisch für die 3. Phase (9 Stunden) und Kernpyknose von dunklen und hellen Zellen ist ein Zeichen der letzten Phase (12 Stunden). Zytochemie und Immunhistochemie sorgen für eine nützliche Information — dies gilt nicht für alle chronologischen Stadien, welche hier einbezogen wurden, aber für individuelle Phasen (3 Stunden für Hematoxylin-Eosin und 6 Stunden für Alcian-PAS). Es ist jedoch besonders wichtig, die Resultate von allen solchen Techniken simultan einzubeziehen, so daß die Frage der exakten Todeszeit innerhalb der ersten 12 Stunden postmortem genauer beantwortet werden kann.

In subjects exposed to a hot environment, short-term topical pretreatment with aluminium zirconium tetrachlorhydrate delayed the onset of visible sweating although it failed to prevent the response. The delay was considered most probably to be due to the occlusive action, in the duct within the upper epidermis, of aluminium-containing conglomerates, which disappear after continuous sweating. However, microanalytical evidence indicated that ionic transport within the fundus secretory cells was also modified.

The EZSCAN is a non-invasive device that, by evaluating sweat gland function, may detect subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The aim of the study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis including studies assessing the performance of the EZSCAN for detecting cases of undiagnosed T2DM. We searched for observational studies including diagnostic accuracy and performance results assessing EZSCAN for detecting cases of undiagnosed T2DM. OVID (Medline, Embase, Global Health), CINAHL and SCOPUS databases, plus secondary resources, were searched until March 29, 2017. The following keywords were utilized for the systematic searching: type 2 diabetes mellitus, hyperglycemia, EZSCAN, SUDOSCAN, and sudomotor function. Two investigators extracted the information for meta-analysis and assessed the quality of the data using the Revised Version of the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS-2) checklist. Pooled estimates were obtained by fitting the logistic...

Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is a well-known marker for sweat gland differentiation in adnexal neoplasms. The aim of this study was to examine the expression of glycoproteins of the CEA family, that is, CEA-180, nonspecific cross-reacting antigens (NCAs), and biliary glycoprotein (BGP), in sebaceous glands and in neoplasms with sebaceous differentiation. Normal adult and fetal skin, hyperplasias, hamartomas, and neoplasms with sebaceous or follicular differentiation were stained immunohistochemically with a panel of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies highly specific for CEA-180, NCAs, and BGP. Double immunostaining was performed to correlate the CEA expression with that of epithelial membrane antigen (EMA), a glycoprotein consistently found in differentiating sebocytes. Whereas sweat glands coexpressed CEA, NCAs, BGP, and EMA, sebaceous glands were exclusively labeled with the antibodies recognizing BGP or EMA. Staining of the sebaceous glands was restricted to mature sebocytes, sparing immature cells. At the ultrastructural level immunoreactivity for BGP and EMA was demonstrable in the golgi area, in small vesicles, and along the cell membranes. During fetal development BGP was not found until the sebaceous glands matured. The expression of BGP and EMA was highly conserved in reactive, hamartomatous, and neoplastic proliferations of adnexal structures with sebaceous differentiation. The expression of BGP, a CEA glycoprotein, in differentiating sebocytes accounts for the reactivity of many anti-CEA antibodies with sebaceous glands and thus disqualifies the CEA family as a monospecific marker for sweat gland differentiation.

Skeletal muscle and skin of humans and cats are supplied by various sympathetic systems: vasoconstrictor neurons, sudomotor neurons, vasodilator neurons and pilomotor neurons. Only vasoconstrictor and sudomotor neurons have resting activity in both species. Discharge patterns of spontaneous activity in postganglionic neurons with resting activity as well as their reflex responses to various stimuli have been compared for both species: (1) muscle vasoconstrictor neurons react similarly in both species; they are under dominant control of arterial baroreceptors; (2) in both species cutaneous vasoconstrictor neurons are under no or weak control of arterial baroreceptors and they are influenced in similar ways by thermal stimuli. In contrast, other (somatic and visceral) stimuli elicit largely inhibition in these neurons in cats but excitation in humans. This may be due to the different experimental situations (anesthesia, etc.); (3) sudomotor neurons in humans are involved in thermoregulation, in cats they are not. The differences in the reflexes may also be due to the different experimental situations and to species differences; (4) the implications of studies on sympathetic neurons in humans and animals for the progress of research in this field have been discussed.