Determination of androstenone levels in porcine plasma by LC-MS/MS

Androstenone (5α-androst-16-en-3-one) is a major component in boar taint. Here, a liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed to analyse androstenone in porcine plasma to facilitate studies of its transport from pig testes to adipose tissues. The method used androstanone (5α-andro-stan-3-one) as internal standard, Oasis® MCX solid-phase extraction, C18 reversed-phase column, and API 5000 Triple Quadrupole mass spectrometry with positive electrospray ionisation interface operating in the multiple reaction monitoring mode. Incubation of the plasma samples with β-glucuronidase/arylsulfatase revealed an increase in androstenone yield indicating the presence of a conjugated form of its 3-enol isomer. With this method the limit of detection (LOD) was 1.0 ng and the limit of quantification (LOQ) was 3.3 ng per mL of plasma. In conclusion, the presented method is sensitive and reproducible and thus suitable for accurate quantification of androstenone levels in a small volume of porcine plasma.