High-Sensitivity Analysis of Cortisol in Human Blood Serum Using LCMS-8060NX Triple Quadrupole Mass Spectrometer

User Benefits

- Quantitative analysis of cortisol with an extremely low concentration value in blood serum is possible by the LC/MS/MS method optimized for high-sensitivity analysis. - This method can be proposed as a total solution which includes sample preparation. - High device robustness is realized because the IonFocus™ unit introduces ions efficiently into the MS.

Introduction

Cortisol is secreted from the adrenal cortex and is an essential hormone for maintaining life, as its functions include promoting the metabolism of various nutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, an anti-inflammatory action, and an immunosuppressive action. Measurement of cortisol is important as a diagnostic index of the pituitary function and the adrenal cortex function. Although immunoassay methods such as the electrochemical luminescence immunoassay method (ECLIA) and the chemiluminescence immunoassay method (CLIA) are used in measurements, cross-reactivity with other steroids and steroid-type drugs is a concern. Therefore, this article introduces a quantitative analysis method using LC/MS/MS, which provides high sensitivity and selectivity. In order to verify the applicability of this method to monitoring of cortisol decrease in blood serum, in this experiment, we used commercially-available human blood serum which had been treated for steroid removal (hereinafter, desteroidized human blood serum), and confirmed the measurability of cortisol from the low concentration region rather than from its normal value. In addition, when using LC/MS/MS, contamination in the MS is an issue when measuring biological specimens. However, use of the IonFocus unit of the LCMS-8060NX enables high-sensitivity analysis while reducing contamination in the MS because only ions are introduced efficiently into the MS.

November 2, 2021 GMT