Online solid-phase extraction liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry of hair cortisol using a surrogate analyte
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2018 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Description | Cortisol is a glucocorticoid hormone, which plays an important role in stressful situations when stressors activate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) system. Cortisol has been routinely analyzed in the laboratory from saliva, serum/plasma, and/or urine. However, the HPA axis represents a highly dynamic system influenced by several factors and expose circadian rhythmicity. When analyzed in hair, it can allow the unique possibility to assess the long-term systemic levels and obtain a retrospective index of long-term hormone secretion. Based on an average hair growth rate of 1 cm per month, it is possible to distribute the hair along the length of individual segments and determine the concentration of cortisol reflecting secretion in the monitored period. Online SPE LC-MS with 13C3-cortisol as a surrogate analyte was developed, validated and applied for obtaining hair cortisol levels of 114 healthy volunteers. The first 3 cm from a posterior vertex position were analyzed as three individual segments resulting in 310 hair cortisol levels, which were used, after log transformation, to predict a range of values observed in future. The median value of hair cortisol was 4.76 pg/mg. The employed method allowed simple processing, high throughput and may be readily expanded to analyze additional steroid compounds in hair. |
| Related projects: |