日本質量分析学会 第69回質量分析総合討論会会

演題概要

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第1日 5月19日(水) 15:30~15:45 E会場(Zoom)

Lithium ion adduction-based UPLC-MS/MS analysis of multi-class ketolic steroid hormones containing a 3-hydroxyl group

(1阪大蛋白研2東大院理)
o汪秋益1清水貴美子2前畑佳納子2潘越1櫻井航輝1疋田貴俊1深田吉孝2高尾敏文1

Steroids that contain a 3-hydroxyl group (3-OH steroids) are widely distributed in nature. During analysis with ESI–MS, they easily become dehydrated while in the protonated form, resulting in the production of several precursor ions and leading to low sensitivity of detection. To address this analytical challenge, here we developed a method for the quantitation of 3-OH steroids by LC–MS/MS coupled with post-column addition of lithium (Li) ions to the mobile phase. The Li ion has a high affinity for the keto group of steroids, stabilizing their structures during ionization and permitting detection of analytes exclusively as the lithiated form. This not only improved the intensities of the precursor ions, but also promoted the formation of typical lithiated fragment ions. This improvement made the quantitation by MRM more sensitive and reliable, as evidenced by 1.53–188 times enhanced detection sensitivity of 13 steroids that contained at least one keto and two hydroxyl groups or one keto and one 5-olefinic double bond, among 16 different 3-OH steroids. We deployed our newly developed method for profiling steroids in mouse brain tissue and identified six steroids in one tissue sample. Among these, 16-hydroxyestrone, tetrahydrocorticosterone, and 17α-hydroxypregnenolone were detected for the first time in the mouse brain. In summary, the method described here enables the detection of lithiated steroids by LC–MS/MS, including three 3-OH steroids not previously reported in the mouse brain.