title: Determination of the glucocorticoids prednisone, prednisolone, dexamethasone, and cortisol in human serum using liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry.
abstract: Glucocorticoids are an important component of immunosuppressive therapy for solid organ transplantation. A method to quantitate prednisone, prednisolone, dexamethasone and cortisol in human serum has been developed. Analysis is performed utilizing reversed-phase liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. The method was validated to a lower limit of quantitation of 5.4 ng/ml for prednisone and cortisol, and 10.7 ng/ml for dexamethasone and prednisolone, with error below 7% at the lower limits. The between-day relative standard deviations ranged 2.9-7.1%. Comparison of cortisol analysis to an established method using clinical samples yielded differences below 15% for 26 of 28 determinations.
authors.affiliation: Core Analytical Laboratory, Department of Pharmacy Practice, Pharmacotherapy Research Center, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260-1200, USA. zuccari@buffalo.edu
authors.forename: Valerie A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Frerichs
authors.forename: Kathleen M
authors.initials: KM
authors.lastname: Tornatore
mesh_terms: D002138:Calibration; D003907:Dexamethasone / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000097:blood*; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000097:blood*; D011241:Prednisone / Q000097:blood*; D012015:Reference Standards; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
chemical_list: D003907:Dexamethasone; D011239:Prednisolone; D011241:Prednisone; D006854:Hydrocortisone