While some people spend a lifetime trying to hide the fact that they produce sweat, new study findings suggest that the bodily excretion may be a lifesaver. It seems that sweat contains a potent germ-fighting agent that may lend a hand in fighting off infections.

What's more, German researchers have isolated the gene responsible for the compound. Investigators dubbed the gene -- and the protein it produces -- dermicidin. It can probably limit an infection very early.

Sweating is in this way a first line of defense against infectious agents.

It seems that dermicidin is manufactured in the body's sweat glands, secreted into the sweat and transported to the surface of the skin, the report indicates.

This is the first antimicrobial agent found which is produced by cells in the human skin and which is permanently produced -- this means that it provides a constant protection against invading microorganisms,.

The investigators found that dermicidin was active against many different types of bacteria, including Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis, which are normal inhabitants of the intestines that can infect wounds or contaminate food, as well as Staphylococcus aureus (a common cause of skin infections), and Candida albicans (a fungus that is another cause of infections).

The findings indicate that human sweat contains at least one antimicrobial protein, which may play a role in the regulation of human skin microbes.

Nature Immunology online December 2001;10.1038/ni732