Working Up a Good Sweat – The Challenges of Standardising Sweat Collection for Metabolomics Analysis

摘要

IntroductionHuman sweat is a complex biofluid of interest to diverse scientific fields. Metabolomics analysis of sweat promises to improve screening, diagnosis and self-monitoring of numerous conditions through new applications and greater personalisation of medical interventions. Before these applications can be fully developed, existing methods for the collection, handling, processing and storage of human sweat need to be revised. This review presents a cross-disciplinary overview of the origins, composition, physical characteristics and functional roles of human sweat, and explores the factors involved in standardising sweat collection for metabolomics analysis.