Morphology and development of an apoeccrine sweat gland in human axillae

Abstract

Evidence is presented that in adult human axillae there exists a third type of sweat gland tentatively designated as the apoeccrine sweat gland. This type of gland shows a segmental or diffuse apocrinelike dilatation of its secretory tubule but has a long and thin duct which does not open into a hair follicle. The electron microscopy of its dilated segment is often indistinguishable from that of the classical apocrine gland. The less remarkably dilated segment of the apoeccrine gland tends to retain intercellular canaliculi and/or dark cells. These apoeccrine glands are consistently present in adult human axillae regardless of sex or race. In the axillae of the two 6-yr-old subjects, both classical apocrine and eccrine glands were present but no apoeccrine glands were found. Between 8-14 yr of age, the number of large eccrine glands with or without partial segmental dilatation gradually increased. At 16-18 yr of age, the number of apoeccrine glands increased to as high as 45% of the total axillary glands. The data support the notion that apoeccrine glands develop during puberty in the axillae from eccrine or eccrinelike sweat glands.

The secretory clear cell of the eccrine sweat gland as the probable source of excess sweat production in hyperhidrosis

“…Serial sectioning and morphological analysis provided no evidence for the existence of this gland type in the human axilla of either healthy or hyperhidrotic individuals in this study. The complete tracking of axillary sweat glands through the skin revealed the presence of only the two established gland types, apocrine and eccrine; ducts emanating from the hair follicles were clearly traced to secretory coils characteristic of apocrine glands (apart from a few that ended in sebaceous acini), whereas those emerging directly through the epidermis were all traced to secretory coils with the bicellular characteristics of eccrine glands; no coil exhibited dilated segments or a secretory epithelium described as characteristic of apoeccrine secretory coils by Sato et al (9). This conclusion was supported by the immunostaining data from serial sections, as opposed to random sections.…”

“…The role of primary, human, tissue-derived MCs in the process of tumor progression has not been defined yet (7)(8)(9)(10). In this study, we have developed a co-culture system of various types of cutaneous malignant cells with primary human skin-derived MCs.…”

“…The existence in the human axilla of a third type of sweat gland, the 'apoeccrine' gland, reputedly with morphological characteristics of both apocrine and eccrine glands has been cited as a potential cause for axillary hyperhidrosis (1,9). Apoeccrine glands reportedly exhibit a sevenfold increase in sweat output compared with eccrine glands, but their occurrence remains controversial (10)(11)(12).…”

Amelioration of Body Odor After Intracutaneous Axillary Injection of Botulinum Toxin A

“…They also described a third type of axillary glands, the apoeccrine gland, which displays mixed features of apocrine and eccrine glands. 19 The number of these apoeccrine glands increases substantially during puberty, 19 a time when axillary odor becomes distinctly noticeable. In young adults, up to 45% of total axillary glands are apoeccrine.…”

Sweat Gland Progenitors in Development, Homeostasis, and Wound Repair

“…Moreover, apocrine sweat glands release an oily substance by shearing off cell parts as necrobiotic secretions (Sato et al 1989a;Wilke et al 2007). A third type of sweat gland, termed apoeccrine sweat gland, has been reported to exist in axillae areas of the human body (Sato et al 1987), but, to date, this remains unsubstantiated.…”