Regional and time course differences in sweat cortisol, glucose, and select cytokine concentrations during exercise

• Published in: European journal of applied physiology 2023-08, Vol.123 (8), p.1727-1738
• Main Authors: King, Michelle A., Brown, Shyretha D., Barnes, Kelly A., De Chavez, Peter John D., Baker, Lindsay B.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Cortisol; Cytokines; Epidermal growth factor; Glucose; Hormones; Human Physiology; IL-1β; Interleukin 1 receptor antagonist; Interleukin 1 receptors; Interleukin 10; Interleukin 6; Interleukin 8; NCT; NCT04240951; Occupational Medicine/Industrial Medicine; Original; Original Article; Sampling; Scapula; Sports Medicine; Sweat; Tumor necrosis factor-α; γ-Interferon
• ISSN: 1439-6319; 1439-6327
• DOI: 10.1007/s00421-023-05187-3

Introduction The use of sweat as a biofluid for non-invasive sampling and diagnostics is a popular area of research. However, concentrations of cortisol, glucose, and cytokines have not been described across anatomical regions or as time progresses throughout exercise. Purpose To determine regional and time course differences in sweat cortisol, glucose, and select cytokines (EGF, IFN-γ, IL-1β, IL-1α, IL-1ra, TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10). Methods Sweat was collected with absorbent patches from eight subjects (24–44 y; 80.2 ± 10.2 kg) on the forehead (FH), right dorsal forearm (RDF), right scapula (RS), and right triceps (RT) at 0–25 min, 30–55 min, and 60–85 min during 90 min of cycling (~ 82% HR max ) in a heated chamber (32 °C, 50% rh). ANOVA was used to determine the effect of site and time on outcomes. Data are reported as LS means ± SE. Results There was a significant effect of location on sweat analyte concentrations with FH having higher values than most other regions for cortisol (FH: 1.15 ± 0.08 ng/mL > RDF: 0.62 ± 0.09 ng/mL and RT: 0.65 ± 0.12 ng/mL, P  = 0.02), IL-1ra ( P