Development and Validation of a High-performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method for Detecting Adrenocortical Hormones and Establishment of Age-stratified Reference Intervals in Reproductive-aged Women from Guangxi, China.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Adrenocortical hormones, particularly 11-oxygenated androgens, are pivotal in female reproductive health and fertility. Standardized detection kits and population-specific reference intervals are lacking in China, hindering related clinical applications.

Methods

A HPLC-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) pipeline was developed, rigorously validated, and applied to simultaneously quantify corticosterone, cortisone, cortisol, 18-OH cortisol, androstenedione (A4), 11β-hydroxyandrostenedione (11-OH A4), dehydroepiandrosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate in serum samples from 455 reproductive-aged women (18-45 yrs) in Guangxi, China. Age-dependent concentration trends were analyzed, and reference intervals stratified by age (2.5th to 97.5th percentiles) were

SUBMITTER: Liu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12915376 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature