Using sweat to measure cytokines in older adults compared to younger adults: A pilot study

Abstract

Background/Objectives Current measures of cytokines involve urine, blood or saliva which have drawbacks including circadian rhythm variations and complicated collection methods. Sweat has been used to measure cytokines in young and middle-aged adults, but not older adults. We sought to determine the feasibility of using sweat to measure cytokines in older adults compared to younger adults. Design Two visit cross-sectional pilot study stratified by age group. Setting Independent living facility and Johns Hopkins University both in Maryland. Participants 23 community-dwelling adults aged 65 and older and 26 adults aged 18–40 were included. Those with active cancer treatment or with a known terminal illness diagnosis were excluded. Measurements Sweat interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were collected using a non-invasive sweat patch worn for 72 hours by each participant. Samples were measured with a single molecule array (SIMOA) technology for ultrasensitive, multiplexed detection of proteins. Results 23 older adults and 26 younger adults with mean ages of 77±8.0 years and 28±5.5 years, respectively, completed the study. Both groups had high rates of compliance with patch wearing and removal. Higher concentrations of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 were observed in older adults compared to younger adults, which remained significant after controlling for race, sex, body mass index, and chronic disease count (0.110±0.030 vs. 0.054±0.020pg/mL, 0.089±0.012 vs. 0.048±0.018pg/mL, and 0.124±0.029 vs. 0.067±0.025pg/mL, respectively). Conclusion These results suggest that sweat patches are a feasible method to collect cytokine data from older adults. Preliminary group differences in cytokine measurement between older and younger groups correspond with current literature that cytokines increase with age, suggesting that sweat measurement using the sweat patch provides a new method of exploring the impact of inflammation on aging. Further research using sweat and the sweat patch is recommended.

Physiological mechanisms determining eccrine sweat composition

“…This study involved active, passive, and thermal stimulation and all samples expressed at least one form of interleukin (IL)-1α or IL-1β. Other investigators have found similar results regarding IL-1 and have also detected IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-31, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β in sweat (Cizza et al 2008;Dai et al 2013;Hladek et al 2018;Jones et al 1995;Marques-Deak et al 2006;Sato and Sato 1994) although IL-6 and TNF-α are not consistently detected (Dai et al 2013;Faulkner et al 2014).…”

Unlocking stress and forecasting its consequences with digital technology

“…It is projecting that by the year 2020, 50 billion individuals globally will own connected smartphones and will own over six connected devices. 10 Smartwatches, rings, body scales, and vests have the capability of producing rich volumes of longitudinal information on physiological proxies of the autonomic nervous system stress response, such as resting heart rate, heart rate variability, body temperature, electrodermal activity, and relative blood pressure, 11–13 while body patches that measure cortisol 14 and inflammatory cytokines 15 and eye-tracking glasses and wireless EEG caps are getting closer to measuring additional objectives measures of stress in real-world settings. 16 Information from smartphone apps and sensors, both passive (phone use, social communication patterns, sleep, and location) and active (cognitive tasks) could reflect digital proxies of objective measures of stress.…”

Integrated omics analysis of sweat reveals an aberrant amino acid metabolism pathway in Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada disease

“…As a medium connected to the skin barrier, sweat is irreplaceable in immune function, skin moisture, temperature regulation and biological defense [9,10]. Not only antibody isotypes such as immunoglobulin (lg)A, lgE and lgG, but also cytokines including tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α, transforming growth factor (TGF)‐β and other interleukins have been found in sweat [11]. As a widely accepted biomarker, sweat chloride measurement is of great value in diagnosing and treating cystic fibrosis (CF) [12,13].…”