Local cholinergic sweat stimulation in atopic dermatitis. An evaporimetric study.

In atopic dermatitis the nature of potential sweating disturbances is still obscure. Using an evaporimeter, local sweating response to a supra-threshold concentration of methacholine and baseline water loss were measured from non-eczematous back skin of 167 young males in five main groups (pure atopic dermatitis, atopic dermatitis with rhinitis/asthma, rhinitis/asthma, non-atopic dermatosis, and non-atopic healthy). Subjects with atopic dermatitis were further divided into two subgroups: dry-looking and normal-looking back skin. Compared with non-atopic healthy individuals, the sweat loss was significantly depressed (p less than 0.01) and the baseline water loss significantly increased (p less than 0.001) in the main groups with atopic dermatitis. Both these trends were most distinct in atopic dry-looking skin, whereas in normal-looking atopic skin only the sweat loss was depressed (p less than 0.05). Respiratory atopy had no effect on the sweating response. No significant correlation was found between the individual baseline water loss and the sweating response.