| Theme |
Muscle and exercise physiology on mineral metabolism |
| Title |
The control of sweat rate and sweat electrolytes in exercising humans |
| Author |
Tatsuro Amano |
Faculty of Education, Niigata University |
| Author |
Naoto Fujii |
Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba |
| Author |
Nicola Gerrett |
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam／Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University |
| Author |
Takeshi Nishiyasu |
Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba |
| Author |
Narihiko Kondo |
Graduate School of Human Development and Environment, Kobe University |
| [ Summary ] |
This is a summary of the control of sweat rate and sweat electrolytes during exercise in humans based on recent studies. Sweating during exercise is controlled by thermal (e.g., body temperature) and non-thermal factors (e.g., central commands, afferent signals from exercising muscle) in an interactive manner. Efferent sympathetic signals driven from hypothalamus is a major pathway responsible for producing sweat in sweat glands whilst other factors also affect sweat production at the glandular level. Precursor sweat contains NaCl, the level of which is similar to plasma. However, a large amount of NaCl in precursor sweat is absorbed in the proximal reabsorptive duct. The reabsorptive function of sweat gland would be indirectly assessed by a relationship between skin conductance and local sweat rate, enabling us to assess how various factors modulate its function (e.g., heat acclimation, regional and sex-related differences). It is suggested that sweat rate and sweat electrolytes are controlled by several factors during exercise. |