  The spectrum of the fermionic operators depending on external fields is an
important object in Quantum Field Theory. In this paper we prove, using
transition to the alternative basis for the $\gamma$-matrices, that this
spectrum does not depend on the sign of the fermion mass, up to a constant
factor. This assumption has been extensively used, but usually without proof.
As an illustration, we calculated the coincidence limit of the coefficient
$a_2(x,x^\prime)$ on the general metric background, vector and axial vector
fields.
