Infrared spectroscopy studies on the conformation of human hair

10 hair samples of healthy subjects and 8 hair samples of patients with mucopolysaccharidosis III A were examined by two techniques in the native state and hydrolyzed. For the hydrolyzed samples transmission spectroscopy was used, for the studies on native hair we applied the attenuated reflection technique. The main differences between native and hydrolyzed hair were at 1450, 2337, 2362, 2850, 2870, 2917, 2930, 3080 cm-1. Those wave numbers seem to reflect the supramolecular structure expressed by hydrogen bonding and intramolecular hydrogen bonds. Only the native hair showed those peaks. Other differences, but of quantitative nature only could be found in the infrared spectra. There were no differences between transmission and ATR spectra in patients with mucopolysaccharidose III A and healthy subjects, only the additional peak of the storage material was detectable. In this paper the supramolecular structure of hair on infrared spectroscopy is characterized, giving the basis for futural studies on the alterations in pathology and variations of human hair.