Eccrine sweat gland

Eccrine sweat gland
Latin glandula sudorifera merocrina;
glandula sudorifera eccrina
Code TH H3.12.00.3.03009

Eccrine glands (or merocrine glands) are the major sweat glands of the human body, found in virtually all skin.[1]. They produce a clear, odorless substance, consisting primarily of water and NaCl (note that the odor from sweat is due to bacterial activity on the secretions of the apocrine glands). NaCl is reabsorbed in the duct to reduce salt loss [2]. They are active in thermoregulation[3], which is controlled by the hypothalamus.

Eccrine glands are composed of (1) an intreaepidermal spiral duct, the "acrosyringium," (2) a straight dermal portion, and (3) a coiled acinar (grape-like) portion in the dermis or hypodermis. Innervation is by the sympathetic nervous system (primarily by cholinergic fibers, but also by adrenergic fibers[4]).

References

  1. ^ James, William; Berger, Timothy; Elston, Dirk (2005) Andrews' Diseases of the Skin: Clinical Dermatology (10th ed.). Saunders. Page 6-7. ISBN 0-7216-2921-0.
  2. ^ Mauro Theodora M, Goldsmith Lowell A, "Chapter 81. Biology of Eccrine, Apocrine, and Apoeccrine Sweat Glands" (Chapter). Wolff K, Goldsmith LA, Katz SI, Gilchrest B, Paller AS, Leffell DJ: Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine, 7e: http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2956361.
  3. ^ American Academy of Dermatology - Eccrine and Apocrine Glands
  4. ^ Sokolov VE, Shabadash SA, Zelikina TI. Biol Bull Acad Sci USSR. 1980 Sep-Oct;7(5):331-46. Innervation of eccrine sweat glands. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7317512

See also

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