UC Davis

Background and objective

Recent increases in the use of noninvasive matrices for biomedical analysis has led to interest in the evaluation of sweat for both clinical and research applications. However, despite being one of the two main cutaneous secretions, until very recently, only one study actually analyzed sweat in the context of cutaneous disease. This review attempts to make the case for increased use of sweat in cutaneous research, and discusses lipid mediators as potential analytical targets in sweat.

Methods

Sweat composition and its relationship with the skin and systemic circulation are discussed, as are practical considerations for sweat sampling and analysis. Previous analyses of lipid mediators in skin biopsies are provided to show that lipid mediators can regulate cutaneous processes and disease pathways. Summaries of recent studies involving the analysis of sweat lipid mediators are provided to demonstrate the utility of sweat lipid mediator testing to support future cutaneous research studies.

Results

Sweat has the potential to reflect both local and systemic biochemical changes in response to disease or intervention, and two recent studies of sweat lipid mediators confirm this ability. Additionally, sweat lipid mediators appear to be temporally stable with individual variability comparable to other matrices, suggesting that these analytes could be useful biomarkers.

Conclusions

Sweat metabolites may be capable of reporting changes in cutaneous biochemical pathways, thereby providing insight into the immunomodulatory biochemistry of the skin. Lipid mediator analysis of sweat appears to be a non invasive approach that could enhance existing cutaneous research and diagnostic methodologies.