Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
steroids, but will miss those nonketolic steroids [
4,
25,
56
]. If steroid hormones are
analyzed without derivatization, they may need to be analyzed by LC-MS/MS using
both positive and negative modes for different hormones, and the LOQ values of
steroid hormones fall in a very broad range, because of the sensitivity variations of
steroid hormones to different MS modes [
22,
29,
77
] .
5
Applications of Mass Spectrometry
in Steroid Hormones Analyses
5.1
Clinical Chemistry and Food Safety
Varieties of LC-MS/MS and GC-MS technologies and methodologies have been
developed and applied for clinical chemistry diagnostic testing. For example, adrenal
steroids, glucocorticoids, androgens, and estrogens are biomarker of many endocri-
nology diseases [
2
] , pediatric development syndromes [
9
] , and congenital adrenal
hyperplasia [
89
]. Endogenous steroids are also related to prevalent cardiovascular
disease in old men and women [
90
], and other age-related diseases [
60
] . Elevated
estrogens and metabolites in plasma and serum of postmenopausal women are used
as biomarkers for risk assessment of breast, ovary, and thyroid cancers, bone homeo-
sis and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women [
4,
15,
39,
91
] . Androgens may be
related to prostate cancer progression and treatment [
31
] , and hyperandrogenism
may cause polycystic ovary syndrome and androgen-secreting tumors [
32
] .
In addition, steroid hormones in many kinds of biological fluids and tissues
have been determined by LC-MS/MS and GC-MS technologies and methodolo-
gies. For example, LC-MS/MS has been utilized for monitoring (1) plasma corti-
costeroids and metabolites to evaluate their therapeutic and side effects as clinically
used medicines [
92
], (2) estrogens in human cerebrospinal fluid [
93
] and perito-
neal fl uid [
94
], (3) urinary endogenous estrogen metabolites [
95,
96
] , (4) estrogens
in breast tissue [
26
], and (5) steroid hormones as residuals in edible matrices [
12
] .
Polyphenol phytoestrogens in foods and human biological fluids are also measured
by mass spectrometry technologies [
97
] .
5.2
Antidoping Steroid Screen for Athletes and Racing Horses
Corticosteroids are used by some athletes and racing horses to enhance their perfor-
mances. In order to prohibit drug doping, many sport organizations, e.g., International
Olympic Committee, attempt to monitor the corticosteroids in urine of athletes. An
example of earlier GC-MS method in steroid screen consists of procedures of
deconjugation of glucuronide and sulfate, derivatization with MSTFA and GC-MS
analysis [
98
]. The more recent LC-MS/MS methods separate the corticosteroids by
