A proton magnetic resonance study of water in human stratum corneum

Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy has been used to study the nature of water in human stratum corneum. For a single planar sheet of stratum corneum mounted at a specific orientation to the applied magnetic field, three distinct absorptions may be seen having different chemical shifts and spin-lattice relaxation times (T₁). All T₁ values for these resonances are smaller than that for normal liquid water. One absorption is unusual in that the resonance position is dependent upon the orientation of the sample within the field.