Determination of testosterone by mass spectrometry
AssigneeQuest Diagnostics Investments Incorporated
InventorsMichael P. Caulfield, Darren A Carns, Richard E Reitz
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Abstract
Provided are methods for determining the presence or amount of testosterone in a test sample, comprising ionizing all or a portion of the testosterone present in the sample to produce one or more testosterone ions that are detectable in a mass spectrometer. All or a portion of the testosterone present in the sample is ionized to produce one or more testosterone ions, which may be isolated and fragmented to produce precursor ions. A separately detectable internal testosterone standard can be provided in the sample. In a preferred embodiment, the reference is 2,2,4,6,6-d5 testosterone.
Claims24
A method for determining the amount of testosterone in a sample when taken from a female human, comprising:
- (a) purifying testosterone from a sample from a female human, wherein said purifying comprises extracting testosterone from said sample;
- (b) ionizing said purified testosterone to produce one or more testosterone ions detectable by a mass spectrometer;
- and
- (c) detecting the amount of one or more of the testosterone ion(s) by a mass spectrometer, wherein the amount of one or more of the testosterone ion(s) is related to the amount of testosterone in the sample;
- wherein said testosterone is not derivatized prior to mass spectrometry, and
- wherein the method is capable of detecting testosterone at concentrations of less than 10 ng/dL in the sample.
A method for determining the amount of testosterone in a sample when taken from a female human, comprising:
- (a) purifying testosterone from a sample from a female human by extracting testosterone from said sample by high turbulence liquid chromatography (HTLC) and subjecting the extracted testosterone to high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC);
- (b) ionizing said purified testosterone to produce one or more testosterone ions detectable by a mass spectrometer;
- and
- (c) detecting the amount of one or more of the testosterone ion(s) by a mass spectrometer, wherein the amount of one or more of the testosterone ion(s) is related to the amount of testosterone in the sample;
- wherein the method is capable of detecting testosterone at concentrations of less than 10 ng/dL in the test sample.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.