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Pharmacological Responsiveness of Sweat Glands in Anxious Patients and Healthy Volunteers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Shani Maple ,
C. M. Bradshaw  and
E. Szabadi
Shani Maple
Affiliation:
University of Manchester, Stopford Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT
C. M. Bradshaw
Affiliation:
University of Manchester, Stopford Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT
E. Szabadi
Affiliation:
University of Manchester, Stopford Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PT
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Summary

The responsiveness of eccrine sweat glands to local intradermal injections of carbachol and phenylephrine was studied in six male and six female healthy volunteers and six female patients suffering from anxiety neurosis, using a plastic paint impression method. Carbachol evoked consistently greater responses than phenylephrine. The response to carbachol attained a peak approximately two minutes after injection, whereas the response to phenylephrine attained a peak within fifteen seconds of the injection. Males showed greater responsiveness to both drugs than females, this being reflected in significantly higher maxima of the dose-response curves for the males. The anxious females showed a higher level of spontaneous sweat gland activity and greater responsiveness to both drugs (reflected in higher maxima of the dose-response curves) than the normal females.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 141 , Issue 2 , August 1982 , pp. 154 - 161
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1982 

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