[Analysis of the composition of the microelements in the hair of normal subjects and in disseminated sclerosis].

The modification of analysis of the hair trace elements involves hair dissolution in nitric acid and analysis of the iron, manganese, and copper by flameless atomic-absorption spectrometry and of zinc by the flame technique. Trace element content has been measured in the hair of 26 normal subjects aged 20-50 and of 20 children. In adults iron, manganese, zinc, and copper concentrations were 12.2 +/- 0.6, 0.55 +/- 0.11, 172 +/- 8, and 12.8 +/- 0.6 micrograms/g, respectively. Higher concentrations of manganese have been observed in females, as well as a tendency to an increase of zinc levels in adults. Analysis of copper in the hair of 44 patients with disseminated sclerosis, carried out by the suggested technique and by direct analysis of the solid sample in a graphite cuvette, has revealed a trend to an elevation of copper content vs. the norm. No significant differences between the hair manganese levels of females and males have been revealed in the patients, such differences being typical of normal subjects. Fluctuations in copper concentrations at different sites of a single hair and a strand have been analyzed in the patients and in normal subjects.