The Simultaneous measurement of serum testosterone and 5α-dihydrotestosterone by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Simultaneous measurement of testosterone (T) and 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is important for diagnosing androgen deficiency states and hyperandrogenism in males and females, respectively. However, immunoassays used for T and DHT determination suffer from inadequate specificity and sensitivity, while tandem mass spectrometry is expensive and demanding in use.
METHODS AND RESULTS: We developed a selective gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method for parallel T and DHT measurement. The assay showed a linear response up to 46.5nmol/L, intra- and interassay imprecision and inaccuracy <15% and recoveries in spiked samples >90% for both analytes. The limit of quantitation was 0.117nmol/L for T and 0.168nmol/L for DHT. Comparison with immunoassays revealed good agreement for T in males, but a bias in favour of immunoassays at low concentrations for T in females and DHT in both sexes. We established reference ranges for T and DHT and suggest interval partitioning for T according to age in men and menstrual cycle in women. Assay validation in a clinical setting suggests that measuring DHT or T/DHT ratio may help identify patients with polycystic ovary syndrome.
CONCLUSION: We developed a selective, simple and inexpensive GC-MS method for parallel measurement of T and DHT with potential use in the clinical laboratory.
Bibliographical data
Original language | English |
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ISSN | 0009-8981 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 01.2018 |
PubMed | 29122541 |
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