Development of a highly sensitive method for the quantification of estrone and estradiol in serum by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry without derivatization

Measurement of estrone (E1) and estradiol (E2) values <1 pg/mL (3.7 pmol/L) is necessary for postmenopausal, pediatric and male serum samples. Until now this was rarely reached and only through derivatization which can present problems for estradiol. A very sensitive LC–MS/MS method was developed avoiding derivatization, convenient for large-scale studies. The desired sensitivity and specificity were achieved using ESI negative mode, LLE and a 2D chromatography consisting of a trapping column and a second dimension reverse-phase C8 analytical column. A mixture of an aqueous solution of ammonium fluoride at 0.2 mM and methanol was used on the analytical column to further increase the sensitivity. Serum LOQ was <0.5 pg/mL (1.9 pmol/L) for E2 and E1 and recoveries ranged from 95 to 105%. No carry-over was detectable. Inter assay CVʹs were 4.0% at 21 pg/mL (77 pmol/L) for E2, 7.6% at 25 pg/mL (93 pmol/L) for E1. Comparison with commercial direct estrogen assays (Roche Diagnostics E170 for E2, Bioline RIA for E1) exposed analytical unsuitability (due to a combined lack of sensitivity and specificity) for the assay of male, postmenopausal or pediatric samples.