Measurement of sex steroids in murine blood and reproductive tissues by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.
Accurate measurement of sex steroids is essential to evaluate mouse models for human reproductive development and disorders. The recent advent of liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assays that match the sensitivity of steroid immunoassay could overcome problems arising from the limited specificity of steroid immunoassay. In this current study we validate a LC-MS/MS assay for the measurement of key sex steroids from murine serum and reproductive tissues. The assay gave excellent dilutional linearity (r(2)> or =0.98) and reproducibility (CV< or =10% of replicate samples) in serum and reproductive tissues with sensitive quantitation limits; testosterone (T; 2pg), dihydrotestosterone (DHT; 10pg), 5alpha-androstane-3alpha,17beta-diol (3alphaDiol; 40pg), 5alpha-androstane-3beta,17beta-diol (3betaDiol; 40pg), estradiol (E2; 0.5pg) and estrone (E1; 0.3pg). Using 0.1mL sample, T was the only consistently detectable steroid (detection limit 20pg/ml) in both male and female mouse serum. In the testis, T and DHT were quantifiable as were both diols at relatively high levels. Prostatic T levels were low and DHT was determined to be the most abundant androgen in this tissue. Uterine and ovarian levels of E2, E1 and T were measurable, with levels varying according to estrous cycle stage. Hence, we demonstrate that this LC-MS/MS method has the sensitivity, specificity and multi-analyte capability to offer accurate steroid profiling in mouse serum and reproductive tissues.
McNamara
K M
KM
Andrology, ANZAC Research Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2139, Australia. keely.mcnamara@UNSWalumni.com
Harwood
D T
DT
Simanainen
U
U
Walters
K A
KA
Jimenez
M
M
Handelsman
D J
DJ
D000818:Animals; D002853:Chromatography, Liquid / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005836:Genitalia, Female / Q000378:metabolism*; D005837:Genitalia, Male / Q000378:metabolism*; D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013256:Steroids / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
D012739:Gonadal Steroid Hormones; D013256:Steroids