Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 56, Issue 5 1302-1307, Copyright © 1984 by American Physiological Society
A modified anaerobic method of sweat collection
T. C. Boysen, S. Yanagawa, F. Sato and K. Sato
In an attempt to devise a method for collecting large volumes of thermally
induced sweat with less epidermal contamination and evaporative water loss,
we developed an anaerobic sweat collector by using a sheet of polyethylene
film placed over a thin layer of Vaseline and paraffin oil on the skin. To
test the validity of the new method, sweat samples collected every 5 min
from the new collector (sweat A) were compared with those obtained from a
second collector using no oil (sweat B) and scraped sweat for
concentrations of adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP), protein,
glucose, urea, lactic acid, calcium, sodium, potassium, and cholesterol.
The concentration of sweat ingredients in scraped sweat was often far
greater than could be expected from evaporative water loss alone. When
compared with sweat A, sweat B also had higher concentrations of these
ingredients in the initial samples, indicating epidermal contamination,
which was especially marked in cAMP, protein, urea, cholesterol, and
calcium. Concomitant with a rise in plasma glucose following the
administration of a glucose bolus, the sweat glucose significantly
increased, indicating the plasma as a major source of sweat glucose. We
conclude that the new sweat collector is instrumental in collecting large
volumes of the cleanest possible human sweat.
