Blood flow and catecholamine concentration in bovine and caprine skin during thermal sweating

1. Blood flow and the concentrations of noradrenaline, adrenaline and dopamine were determined in the skins of cattle and goats, before, at the onset of and 3 hr after commencement of sweating induced by heat exposure (40 degrees C). 2. The onset of sweating in both cattle and goats was associated with a rise in cutaneous blood flow, which was thus independent of sweat pattern. Cutaneous blood flow was also higher at 40 degrees C than at 15 degrees C. 3. The predominant catecholamine in the skin of both species was dopamine, which in the goat increased in concentration in the warm environment. 4. There was no clear evidence of a change in the amount of any of the cutaneous catecholamines during exposure to 40 degrees C, although there was a consistent tendency for the concentrations of adrenaline in the calf and noradrenaline in the goat, to fall during the onset of sweating.