{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]],"date-time":"2026-08-03T22:41:29Z","timestamp":1785796889384,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":39,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,22]],"date-time":"2025-08-22T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1755820800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000266","name":"Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["EP\/X000958\/1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["EP\/X000958\/1"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000266","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Nail properties and appearances can indicate a person\u2019s underlying systemic diseases. Raman spectroscopy is an established laboratory technique and has been applied to nails, identifying spectral differences between healthy individuals and patient populations.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>We aim to explore the importance of potential spectral or chemical variations in nails between sexes, age groups, hands, and fingers.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Twenty male and twenty female participants without known musculoskeletal or dermatological diseases donated nail clippings from each finger. The clippings were cleaned, and Raman spectra collected and analysed using a standardised protocol.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>In total 2000 spectra were collected. Females have higher intensities of disulphide, protein, and lipid bands, particularly in their 40s, than males. Age-related changes were prominent in female nails, especially in sulphur-related bands. No significant differences were observed between nails from the left and right hands or among different fingers.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec005\">\n<jats:title>Limitations<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>We did not control other factors such as diet, medication, or different occupation or sports participation.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec006\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>This is the first study to use Raman spectroscopy to compare nail composition across different ages and sexes in healthy adults. The findings provide a strong basis for further studies on nails at the population level for screening or monitoring diseases.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0329092","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,22]],"date-time":"2025-08-22T17:26:11Z","timestamp":1755883571000},"page":"e0329092","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Raman spectroscopy identified fingernail compositional differences between sexes and age-related changes but not handedness or fingers in a healthy cohort"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"20","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6764-9790","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Nai-Hao","family":"Yin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Frances","family":"Griffiths","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Claire","family":"Mann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Helen","family":"Dawes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Richard","family":"van Arkel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marwan","family":"Bukhari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jemma G.","family":"Kerns","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,8,22]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0329092.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1002\/9781118286715","volume-title":"Baran and Dawber\u2019s Diseases of the Nails and Their Management","author":"R Baran","year":"2012"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0329092.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"977","DOI":"10.1016\/0190-9622(95)91335-1","article-title":"Nail abnormalities in nondermatologic patients: prevalence and possible role as diagnostic aids","volume":"32","author":"GB Jemec","year":"1995","journal-title":"J Am Acad Dermatol"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0329092.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"237","DOI":"10.4103\/0378-6323.95437","article-title":"Nails in nutritional deficiencies","volume":"78","author":"D Seshadri","year":"2012","journal-title":"Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol"},{"key":"pone.0329092.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"55","DOI":"10.1016\/j.bpobgyn.2016.09.007","article-title":"Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia in women","volume":"40","author":"L Percy","year":"2017","journal-title":"Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0329092.ref005","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1067\/mjd.2002.120928","article-title":"Cardiocutaneous syndromes and associations","volume":"46","author":"NF Abdelmalek","year":"2002","journal-title":"J Am Acad Dermatol"},{"key":"pone.0329092.ref006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"86","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jns.2009.02.320","article-title":"\u201cCapillary band width\u201d, the \u201cnail (band) sign\u201d: a clinical marker of microvascular integrity, inflammation, cognition and age. 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