Application of dansyl derivatization to the high pressure liquid chromatographic identification of equine estrogens

The HPLC qualitative analysis of conjugated estrogens is accomplished by a two-step procedure involving the formation of the corresponding dansyl derivatives. The first step involves the acid hydrolysis of the conjugated estrogens, followed by dansyl derivatization and HPLC separation of these derivatives on a liChrosorb Si-60 column with 50% (v/v) chloroform-n-heptane as the mobile phase. All of the dansyl estrogens are well separated except for the 17-keto estrogens, estrone, equilin, and equilenin. The second step, designed to detect the three 17-keto estrogens, begins with the selective sodium borohydride reduction of the conjugated 17-keto estrogens to the corresponding 17-hydroxyl compounds (the beta-epimer being formed in vast predominance over the alpha-epimer), followed by acid hydrolysis, dansyl derivatization, and HPLC separation of the derivatives as in the first step. Detection of the 17-keto estrogens is possible by determining differences in peak heights between the chromatograms of the first and second analyses. The The proposed method is sensitive, the dansyl derivatives stable, and nine different estrogens can be readily identified.     

雌甾的双羟甲基化和双咪唑甲基化反应

本文报道雌甾A环的直接双羟甲基化和双咪唑甲基化反应。将雌二醇(ia)、炔雌醇(ib)、雌酚酮(ic)及其17-正的醇缩酮(id) 分别与甲醛和粉状氢氧化纳于少量溶剂中在50~550 反应,生成对应的2,4-二(羟甲基)雌甾化合物2a~d。将(a,b,d分别与聚甲醛和咪唑在130~141 反应或将双羟甲基化反应可得的2a,b,d 与咪唑反应均生成对应的2,4-二(咪唑甲基)雌甾化合物3a,b,d。     

Picogram determination of estrogens in water using large volume injection gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

In this study, a simple and efficient large volume injection gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method, via a programmable-temperature vaporizer (PTV) inlet, has been developed and applied in the determination of estrogens in environmental water samples without a prior derivatization process. Three commonly used estrogens estrone, 17 β-estradiol and 17 α-ethynylestradiol were selected as target compounds for this study. It has been demonstrated that the type of gas chromatograph liner and the initial inlet temperature can greatly affect the response intensity of estrogens. Three different types of PTV liners have been studied; the multibaffle liner generated the strongest response intensities towards the estrogen analytes. The results showed that the response intensities of estrogens reduced sharply while the initial inlet temperature increased. Various instrument conditions and sample preparation methods were studied in detail. The optimized method has been validated with good linearity, precision and accuracy. The method detection limit of each estrogen was found to be 0.041 ng/L for estrone, 0.046 ng/L for 17 β-estradiol and 0.031 ng/L for 17 α-ethynylestradiol. To the best of our knowledge, these results represent the best sensitivities achieved for estrogens analyzed in water samples via traditional GC-MS method without a derivatization process. This method has been successfully applied in the analyses of different water samples.     

Polymer-coated hollow-fiber microextraction of estrogens in water samples with analysis by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

A novel sorbent, dihydroxylated polymethylmethacrylate (DHPMM), coated on hollow-fiber membrane, is used for the polymer-coated hollow-fiber microextraction of trace amounts of natural and synthetic estrogens, such as diethylstilbestrol, estrone, 17beta-estradiol and 17alpha-ethynylestradiol, in aqueous samples. In this procedure, estrogens were extracted using the functionalized polar DHPMM polymer with derivatization using N-methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide followed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis. The detection limits for estrogens in aqueous sample were between 0.03 and 0.8 ng l(-1) and the calibration curves were linear over the concentration range 0.05-10 microgl(-1) and had correlation coefficients of >0.994. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) were <15% (n = 3). This simple, accurate, sensitive and selective analytical method is applicable to the determination of trace amounts of estrogens in reservoir and potable water samples.     

高效液相色谱-串联质谱法检测生物样品中6种雌激素

建立了雌酮、雌二醇、雌三醇、己烯雌酚、己烷雌酚和炔雌醇6种雌激素在生物体中的HPLC-MS/MS分析方法.采用加速溶剂萃取、固相萃取技术进行提取、富集及净化,有效降低了基质的干扰.以甲醇-0.1％氨水溶液为流动相,以C18色谱柱进行分离,质谱采用电喷雾负离子扫描模式,6种雌激素的回收率为88％～104％,相对标准偏差在1.3％～8.3％之间.雌酮、雌二醇、雌三醇在生物体中的方法检出限0.35ng/g;己烯雌酚、己烷雌酚、17α-乙炔基雌二醇在生物体中的方法检出限为0.13ng/g.方法适用于生物体内雌激素的分析和检测.     

High performance liquid chromatographic analysis of six conjugated and unconjugated estrogens in serum.

Six estrogens-estrone, equilin, estradiol, sodium estrone sulphate, sodium equilin sulphate and sodium 17-alpha-dihydroequilin sulphate in dog serum were successfully separated and quantified by a high performance liquid chromatographic method developed in our laboratories. The mobile phase was optimized by studying the effects of an organic modifier (acetonitrile) and an ion pairing reagent (tetrabutylammonium hydroxide). The serum sample work-up procedure was designed to recover both conjugated and unconjugated estrogens. The optimum method involved acetonitrile to precipitate serum proteins/peptides and extract estrogens. Residues were reconstituted in 50% acetonitrile in water for injection. The detection limits for these six estrogens via UV detection ranged from 0.5 to 5 ng on-column with a signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) of 10 for a 20 microL injection and via fluorescence 0.1 ng on-column for 17-beta-estradiol. Validation data are included for all six estrogens.     

Bulk derivatization and direct injection of human cerebrospinal fluid for trace‐level quantification of endogenous estrogens using trap‐and‐elute liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

Although there are existing methods for determining estrogen in human bodily fluids including blood plasma and serum, very little information is available regarding estrogen levels in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which is critical to assess in studies of neuroprotective functions and diffusion of neuroprotective estrogens across the blood–brain barrier. To address this problem, a liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous quantification of four endogenous estrogens (estrone, 17α‐estradiol, 17β‐estradiol, and estriol) in human CSF was developed. An aliquot (300 μL) of human CSF was bulk derivatized using dansyl chloride in the sample and 10 μL was directly injected onto a restricted‐access media trap column for protein removal. No off‐line sample extraction or cleanup was needed. The limits of detection of estrone, 17α‐estradiol, 17β‐estradiol, and estriol were 17, 28, 13, and 30 pg/mL, respectively, which is in the parts‐per‐trillion regime. The method was then applied to human CSF collected from ischemic trauma patients. Endogenous estrogens were detected and quantified, demonstrating the effectiveness of this method.     

固相萃取-超高效液相色谱-串联质谱法同时测定饲料中的3种雌激素

建立了固相萃取-超高效液相色谱-串联质谱(SPE-UPLC-MS/MS)同时测定饲料(预混合、配合和浓缩饲料)中3种雌激素(17β-雌二醇、苯甲酸雌二醇和戊酸雌二醇)的检测方法。饲料样品经乙腈提取,Heaion C₁₈固相萃取柱净化后,用ACQUITY UPLC BEH C₁₈色谱柱(50 mm×2.1 mm,1.7 μm)分离,乙腈和0.1%氨水溶液作为流动相进行梯度洗脱,多反应监测(MRM)模式检测,内标法定量。结果表明,17β-雌二醇和戊酸雌二醇在10~200 μg/L、苯甲酸雌二醇在5~200 μg/L范围内具有良好线性,相关系数(r)≥0.996。17β-雌二醇、苯甲酸雌二醇和戊酸雌二醇的检出限分别为7、5和7 μg/kg。样品的平均加标回收率为96.5%~102.0%。该法前处理操作简便、分析速度快、检出限低、准确度高,可用于饲料中3种雌激素的同时检测。     

Improved method for analyzing estrogens in water by liquid chromatography-electrospray mass spectrometry

An improved LC-electrospray ionization MS method was established for four estrogens (17beta-estradiol (E2), estriol (E3), estrone (E1), and ethynyl estradiol (EE)) in environmental water. Almost complete separation of all estrogens was achieved on a phenyl column with methanol/water as the mobile phase. Quantification was achieved in the negative ionization mode using selected ion monitoring. The instrumental detection limits were 20-30 ng/l for the four analytes. In Milli-Q spiked water, the recoveries of the four estrogens were 72-81%, which was similar to those found for river water spiked with the corresponding deuterated estrogens. The detection limits for the four estrogens in river water were 0.1-0.2 ng/l. The method was used to detect residual estrogens in the Tonghui River, which receives water from a municipal sewage treatment plant in Beijing; E1 (1.1 ng/l) and E2 (0.2 ng/l) were detected.     

Solid-phase extraction using molecularly imprinted polymer for selective extraction of natural and synthetic estrogens from aqueous samples

A method is proposed for the clean-up and preconcentration of natural and synthetic estrogens from aqueous samples employing molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) as selective sorbent for solid-phase extraction (SPE). The selectivity of the MIP was checked toward several selected natural and synthetic estrogens such as estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (β-E2), 17α-estradiol (α-E2), estriol (E3), 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2), dienestrol (DIES) and diethylstilbestrol (DES). Ultrahigh pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) coupled to a TSQ triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (QqQ) was used for analysis of target analytes. The chromatographic separation of the selected compounds was performed in less than 2 min under isocratic conditions. The method was applied to the analysis of estrogens in spiked river and tap water samples. High recoveries (>82%) for estrone, 17β-estradiol, 17α-estradiol, estriol and 17α-ethinylestradiol were obtained. Lower but still satisfactory recoveries (>48%) were achieved for dienestrol and diethylstilbestrol. The method was validated and found to be linear in the range 50-500 ng L(-1) with correlation coefficients (R(2)) greater than 0.995 and repeatability relative standard deviation (RSD) below 8% in all cases. For analysis of 100-mL sample, the method detection limits (LOD) ranged from 4.5 to 9.8 ng L(-1) and the limit of quantitation (LOQ) from 14.9 to 32.6 ng L(-1). To demonstrate the potential of the MIP obtained, a comparison with commercially available C(18) SPE was performed. Molecularly imprinted SPE showed higher recoveries than commercially available C(18) SPE for most of the compounds. These results showed the suitability of the MIP-SPE method for the selective extraction of a class of structurally related compounds such as natural and synthetic estrogens.     

固相萃取-超高效液相色谱-三重四极杆质谱法同时测定不同水体中的6种雌激素

建立了固相萃取-超高效液相色谱-三重四极杆质谱（SPE-UPLC-MS/MS）联用技术同时测定不同水体中6种雌激素（雌三醇、17-β-雌二醇、17- α-雌二醇、雌酮、炔雌醇、己烯雌酚）的分析方法。样品经HLB固相萃取柱提取和净化后经BEH C18色谱柱分离,采用MS/MS多反应监测模式（MRM）进行分析。采用内标法定量,以雌三醇-D3、17-β-雌二醇-D2、己烯雌酚-D8为内标。当6种雌激素的质量浓度在1.0~100 μg/L线性范围内时,所得回归方程的相关系数（r）均不小于0.9982;方法检出限为0.27~0.45 ng/L,定量限为1.08~1.78 ng/L;在高、中、低3个添加水平下的回收率为68.3%~97.4%,相对标准偏差（RSD）小于15%。该方法灵敏、准确,检测范围广,分析速度快,适用于地表水、废水、饮用水源水及生活用水等不同水体中6种雌激素的同时检测。     

Preparation and spatial structure of methyl ether of 7β-methyl-D-homo-6-oxaestra-1,3,5(10),8(9)-tetraen-17a-one

Procedure of preparation of 7β-methyl-D-homo-6-oxa-1,3,5(10),8,(9)-estratetraen-17a-one methyl ether has been developed; the product conformation in the solution has been studied by NMR spectroscopy. Comparison of the experimental data with simulation of similar compounds docking into the ligand-binding pocket of the estrogens α-receptor has suggested that such steroids are promising for preparation of biologically active substances whose action would not be mediated by the estrogens receptors.     

Reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method for estrogen determination in equine biological samples

Equine unsaturated estrogens are the main components of brand formulations indicated for hormonal replacement therapy in both hypogonadic and postmenopausal women. These hormones are produced by the fetoplacental unit during equine gestation. A method is described for the quantitative determination of equilenin (EL), equilin (EQ), 17alpha-dihydroequilin (17dEQ), and estrone (El) in the plasma of a pregnant mare. Blood samples are obtained weekly during pregnancy by jugular venipuncture using sodium ethylenediaminetetracetic as the anticoagulant. For the quantitation of these estrogens, plasma is submitted to enzymatic hydrolysis followed by liquid-liquid extraction. A high-performance liquid chromatographic system equipped with a UV detector set at 220 nm and an ODS Hypersil column is used. The method met precision, specificity, and accuracy requirements. The hormonal levels determined in one target mare throughout pregnancy were 97.91 to 449.13, 116.47 to 266.02, 74.92 to 235.54, and 84.26 to 300.03 ng/mL, reaching a maximum towards the 25th, 20th, 33rd, and 27th weeks, respectively, for E1, EL, EQ, and 17dEQ. The method was successfully tested by quantitating these estrogens in the plasma from a pregnant mare. Its applicability to the study of estrogen bioavailability and bioequivalence is suggested.     

Determination of natural and synthetic estrogens in water by gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection

A procedure for the determination of six natural and synthetic estrogens (diethylstilbestrol, estrone, 17beta-estradiol, mestranol, 17alpha-ethinylestradiol and estriol) in water samples is described. Samples, up to 2000 ml, were concentrated using Oasis HLB solid-phase extraction cartridges. Analytes were derivatized with N-methyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)trifluoroacetamide and determined by GC-MS or GC-MS-MS. The reactivity of several silylation reagents versus aliphatic and aromatic hydroxyl groups contained in the structure of the selected analytes was evaluated. Influence of parameters such as sample pH, nature of the water samples and derivatization conditions on the performance of the whole analytical procedure was systematically studied. Under optimal conditions, quantification limits between 1 and 3 ng/l were achieved for the determination of the considered estrogens in sewage water.     

Determination of estrone and 17 beta-estradiol in human hair by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

An efficient procedure is described for the determination of estrone and 17 beta-estradiol in hair by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The method involves alkyloxycarbonylation with isobutyl chloroformate (isoBCF) of phenolic hydroxy groups after alkaline digestion of hair samples. The resulting isobutyloxycarbonyl derivatives of estrone and 17 beta-estradiol are extracted with hexane and subjected to chlorodifluoroacetyl derivatization in order to protect the remaining alcoholic hydroxy groups. When GC-MS with selected ion monitoring (SIM) was used, the quantitative ions were at m/z 270 and 384 in the electron ionization mass spectra for estrone and 17 beta-estradiol, respectively. The detection limits for SIM of the steroids were 1 and 2 pg, respectively, and the SIM responses were linear with correlation coefficients varying from 0.991 to 0.994 in the concentration range 0.2-4.0 ng g-1 for the estrogens studied. The detection of estrone and 17 beta-estradiol in hair samples was possible in the concentration range of 0.24-1.30 ng g-1. The concentrations of the two estrogens detected were different in male and female hair samples.     

Separation of dansylated 17β-estradiol, 17α-estradiol, and estrone on a single HPLC column for simultaneous quantitation by LC–MS/MS

We show here that baseline separation of dansylated estrone, 17β-estradiol, and 17α-estradiol can be done, contrary to previous reports, within a short run time on a single RP-LC analytical column packed with particles bonded with phenyl-hexyl stationary phase. The chromatographic method coupled with isotope dilution tandem MS offers a simple assay enabling the simultaneous analysis of these analytes. The method employs ¹³C-labeled estrogens as internal standards to eliminate potential matrix effects arising from the use of deuterated estrogens. The assay also offers adequate accuracy and sensitivity to be useful for biological samples. The practical applicability of the validated method is demonstrated by the quantitative analyses of in vivo samples obtained from rats treated with Premarin®.

Determination of environmental estrogens in human urine by high performance liquid chromatography after fluorescent derivatization with p-nitrobenzoyl chloride

A high performance liquid chromatographic method (HPLC) for the simultaneous determination of 4-nonylphenol, bisphenol A, 17α-ethinylestradiol and three endogenic estrogens including 17α-estradiol, 17β-estradiol, estriol in urine sample, based on precolumn derivatization with p-nitrobenzoyl chloride, is presented in this paper. The estrogens mentioned above in urine were firstly hydrolyzed with 0.6 mol/l HCl, and then enriched and cleaned-up by ENV-18 C18 solid phase extraction (SPE) column. The estrogens on column were eluted with dichloromethane, and the eluent was evaporated to dryness under gentle nitrogen flow. The residue was allowed to react with p-nitrobenzoyl chloride at 25 °C for 30 min. Separation was performed on a C18 column with gradient elution using acetonitrile and water as mobile phase. A fluorescence detection system was used to detect the fluorescent derivatization products. The detection limit of the method was 2.7 μg/l for bisphenol A and 17β-estradiol, 2.9 μg/l for 4-nonylphenol, 4.6 μg/l for 17α-estradiol and 17α-ethinylestradiol and 8.3 μg/l for estriol, respectively. The relative standard deviations (R.S.D.) ranged from 1.29 to 4.52% and the recoveries ranged from 85.5 to 99.9%. The method was applied to the determination of those six estrogens mentioned above in human urine samples collected from 20 healthy volunteers (aged 21-29). Bisphenol A (BPA) and 4-nonylphenol (NP) were detected with average contents of 1.22 ± 1.38 mg/l and 0.38 ± 0.77 mg/l in 10 male urine samples and 1.29 ± 1.22 mg/l and 0.05 ± 0.05 mg/l in 10 female urine samples, respectively. 17α-ethinylestradiol (α-EE2) was also detected with average contents of 0.13 ± 0.41 mg/l and 0.06 ± 0.15 mg/l in male and female urine samples, respectively.     

Quantitation of estrogens in ground water and swine lagoon samples using solid-phase extraction, pentafluorobenzyl/trimethylsilyl derivatizations and gas chromatography-negative ion chemical ionization tandem mass spectrometry

A method was developed for the confirmed identification and quantitation of 17beta-estradiol, estrone, 17alpha-ethynylestradiol and 16alpha-hydroxy-17beta-estradiol (estriol) in ground water and swine lagoon samples. Centrifuged and filtered samples were extracted using solid-phase extraction (SPE), and extracts were derivatized using pentafluorobenzy] bromide (PFBBR) and N-trimethylsilylimidazole (TMSI). Analysis was done using negative ion chemical ionization (NICI) gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-mass spectrometry (GC-MS-MS). Deuterated analogs of each of the estrogens were used as isotope dilution standards (IDS) and were added to the samples before extraction. A limit of quantitation of 1 ng/l in ground water was obtained using 500 ml of ground water sample, 1.0 ml of extract volume and the lowest calibration standard of 0.5 pg/microl. For a 25 ml swine lagoon sample, the limit of quantitation was 40 ng/l. The average recovery of the four estrogens spiked into 500 ml of distilled water and ground water samples (n = 16) at 2 ng/l was 103% (S.D. 14%). For 25 ml of swine lagoon samples spiked at 500, 1000 and 10,000 ng/l, the average recovery for the four estrogens was 103% (S.D. 15%). The method detection limits (MDLs) of the four estrogens spiked at 2 ng/l in a 500 ml of ground water sample ranged from 0.2 to 0.6 ng/l. In swine lagoon samples from three different types of swine operations, estrone was found at levels up to 25,000 ng/l, followed by estriol and estradiol up to levels at 10,000 and 3000 ng/l, respectively. It was found that pretreatment of swine lagoon samples with formaldehyde was necessary to prevent conversion of estradiol to estrone.     

Ultrafiltration tandem mass spectrometry of estrogens for characterization of structure and affinity for human estrogen receptors

Although hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is used by post-menopausal women for the relief of menopausal symptoms and the potential reduction of osteoporosis, HRT also increases their risk of Alzheimer's disease, stroke, breast cancer, and endometrial cancer. Since the majority of these effects are associated primarily with estrogen binding to only one of the estrogen receptors (ER), new assays are needed that can more efficiently evaluate ER-binding and identify ligands selective for ER-alpha and ER-beta. High performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) was combined with ultrafiltration as a new method to investigate the relative binding of compounds to the ERs and to evaluate the structures of these estrogens. Mixtures of estradiol and six equine estrogens, including equilin, equilenin, 8,9-dehydroestrone, and their 17beta-hydroxyl derivatives, were assayed simultaneously to determine their relative binding to human ER-alpha and ER-beta. Estrogens containing a 17beta-OH group were found to have higher relative affinities for the estrogen receptors than their ketone analogs. In addition, 17beta-EN showed selectivity for binding to ER-beta over ER-alpha. The results were compared to the IC50 values obtained by using a conventional radiolabled estradiol competitive binding assay. Finally, the utility of negative ion electrospray tandem mass spectrometry for the unambiguous identification of these estrogen isomers was investigated. Several characteristic recyclization pathways during tandem mass spectrometry were identified, which might be useful for distinguishing related estrogens.     

Degradation of estrogen conjugates using titanium dioxide as a photocatalyst.

Estrogen conjugates (estradiol-3-glucuronide, -17-glucuronide, estrone-glucuronide and -sulfate) were subjected to photodegradation using titanium dioxide immobilized on glass beads as a catalyst. Their time courses were measured by HPLC and compared with those of the unconjugated estrogens. Estradiol, its 17-glucuronide and estrone, which have an unconjugated phenolic hydroxy group at the C-3 position, were almost completely degraded by UV irradiation within 4 h. On the other hand, significant amounts of estradiol- and estrone-3-glucuronide (ca. 20%, 25%) and estrone sulfate (ca. 90%), which were conjugated at the 3-hydroxy group, remained after a 6.5 h irradiation. These results supported the hypothesis that the photodegradation of estrogens was initiated at the phenolic hydroxy group.