Apocrine sweat glands

Apocrine sweat glands

Apocrine sweat glands develop during the early- to mid-puberty ages within the age range of 13 to 15, and release more than normal amounts of sweat for approximately a month, regulating and releasing normal amounts of sweat after a certain period of time. They are located wherever there is body hair.

These glands produce sweat that contains organic molecules (lipids and proteins) and pheromones [http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sueur#Glandes_sudoripares_apocrines] . Mainly present on the face, in the armpits, and around the genital area, their activity is the main cause of sweat odor, due to the bacteria that break down the organic compounds in the sweat.

Emotional stress causes sweat present in the tubule to be squeezed out. Thus, apocrine sweat glands serve as scent glands.

The name "apocrine sweat gland" is archaic; these glands are no longer believed to secrete their products by an apocrine mechanism in which the apical portion of the cell is sloughed off with secretory products inside. Rather, the apocrine sweat glands secrete in an merocrine fashion: membrane-bound vesicles bind to the plasma membrane of secretory cells and release products by exocytosis with no net loss of the plasma membrane. These glands are still called "apocrine sweat glands" to distinguish them from the eccrine sweat glands.

ee also

* McClintock effect

External links

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*
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* - "Axillary Sweat Gland"
* [http://www3.umdnj.edu/histsweb/lab11/lab11apocrine.html Histology at umdnj.edu]
* [http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSN0744269320070207 For women, nothing's like the smell of men's sweat] -- from Reuters (February 2007)
* [http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2007/02/06_sweat.shtml Male sweat boosts women's hormone levels] -- from UC Berkeley, February 2007
* [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070207172019.htm The Effect of Male Sweat on Women's Hormone Levels] -- from Science Daily, February 2007

References


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