In a surprising discovery, American medical researchers have found that human sweat glands play a crucial role in wound healing. These glands are the primary source of stem cells that produce new skin cells and support the healing process. Previous studies only examined sweat glands in animals, making it difficult to identify their function in humans. However, the researchers found that only human sweat glands support the healing process of the skin. This new understanding could help develop new medications for burns or other poorly healing wounds.
Laure Rittié from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor hopes that this discovery will lead to the development of new treatments that target sweat glands. In animals, new stem cells form from the edge of the wound and gradually close the wound. However, the healing process in humans is different. Rittié and her colleagues discovered this by examining skin wounds on the human forearm using an infrared laser. They observed the wounds over a week and took small tissue samples. The researchers found that new skin cells are produced by the eccrine sweat glands, which are found in both hairy and hairless regions of the human body and primarily regulate body temperature.
The human skin has significantly more sweat glands than hair follicles or sebaceous glands. The use of the stem cell reservoir by sweat glands leads to particularly effective regeneration of wounded skin. The researchers are now searching for drugs that activate stem cell production in sweat glands and hope to cultivate stem cells in the laboratory for transplantation into patients with chronic wounds. This new discovery could revolutionize wound healing and lead to the development of new treatments for patients with chronic wounds.
