A research group from Osaka University Graduate School, Nagasaki University Graduate School, and Osaka Public University Graduate School has revealed the mechanism by which sweat glands contract when humans sweat.The results of this research were presented at an international conference held from September 2023th to 9th, 4 in Barcelona, Spain.
Received the Grand Prize in the Poster Category at IFSCC2023).
Using human sweat glands, the research group has previously shown that when human sweat glands contract, sweat is pushed out onto the skin's surface.However, there are many unknowns about the detailed mechanism, and the effective ingredients that suppress sweating have not been identified.
Therefore, the research group collected eccrine sweat glands from human skin tissue and observed them.As a result, connexin (CX), a protein that constitutes gap junctions (intercellular connections that allow water-soluble ions and electrical signals to pass through), is expressed in myoepithelial cells that are necessary for the contraction of sweat glands during sweating. Among them, CX43 was particularly abundantly distributed on myoepithelial cells.
Sweat gland activity was also suppressed by carbenoxolone (CBX), a drug that blocks gap junction function.These results revealed that gap junctions in myoepithelial cells are an important factor in the contraction of sweat glands during sweating.Furthermore, they discovered that monoammonium glycyrrhizinate (GMA), a CBX analogue, actually inhibits both thermal and psychogenic sweating in humans.
The antiperspirant technology discovered this time acts directly on the sweat glands to stop sweating.The antiperspirant effect can be improved by developing new antiperspirants and combining them with conventional antiperspirant technologies.Furthermore, further elucidation of the dynamic mechanism of sweat glands during sweating is expected to lead to the elucidation and treatment of sweating-related diseases (hyperhidrosis).
