HPLC-FLU detection of cortisol distribution in human hair.
OBJECTIVE
Recently cortisol level in hair is supposed to be a good biomarker of chronic stress. We had developed a new method based on HPLC-FLU for identification of cortisol in human hair and measured cortisol distribution of each 1-cm segment along hair shaft.


METHODS
Hair sample was pulverized and incubated in 0.1 M HCl and extracted with ethyl acetate. The extraction was derived with sulfuric acid. The derivative was extracted with SPE C18 column.


RESULTS
The detection limit was 1 pg/mg, the intraday and interday precisions were 7.3% and 8.5%, and average recovery was 102.5+/-13.0%. Cortisol concentrations of 32 humans' hair ranged from 3.28 to 24.83 pg/mg. There was a distinct decline in the cortisol of 1-cm segment along hair shaft.


CONCLUSIONS
This method showed that the precision was matched with mass spectroscopy. The cortisol in 1-cm hair segment sensitively reflects a retrospective calendar over 1 month.
Research Center of Learning Science, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
Wei
W
Gao
Qiaozhen
Q
Xie
Jing
J
Jin
Ting
T
Qiao
Haiyang
H
Wang
Liqin
L
Chen
Huihua
H
Deng
Zuhong
Z
Lu
D000085:Acetates / Q000737:chemistry; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D005260:Female; D006197:Hair / Q000737:chemistry*; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult
D000085:Acetates; C007650:ethyl acetate; D006854:Hydrocortisone