Department of Pharmacy, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Hubei Province Clinical Research Center for Precision Medicine for Critical Illness, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Biomed Chromatogr. 2021 Nov;35(11):e5200. doi: 10.1002/bmc.5200. Epub 2021 Jul 4.
Steroid hormones such as glucocorticoids and their metabolites are closely related to mental diseases and neuroendocrine diseases. Quantitative analysis of these substances will help in understanding their roles in related research fields. In this study, an ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed to detect the concentration of corticosterone (CORT) and its metabolites, progesterone (PROG) and testosterone in rat plasma and prefrontal cortex (PFC), and was applied to investigate the changes in hormones in rats with depression induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). The method was shown to be linear in the quantitation range for all analytes. Intra- and inter-day accuracy and precision were between 80% and 120%. Furthermore, we found that the level of CORT in plasma and PFC increased, whereas that of 11-dehydrocorticosterone (11-DHCORT) as well as the ratio of 11-DHCORT and CORT declined in rats with CUMS-induced depression. The trends of these changes in central PFC and peripheral plasma were consistent. In conclusion, this study successfully established an UPLC-MS/MS method for simultaneous measurement of CORT and its metabolites, PROG and testosterone in rat plasma and PFC, and applied it to rats with depression. The method could be further applied to the research of depression and diseases related to these steroid hormones.
甾体激素如糖皮质激素及其代谢产物与精神疾病和神经内分泌疾病密切相关。这些物质的定量分析将有助于了解它们在相关研究领域中的作用。在本研究中，建立了一种超高效液相色谱-串联质谱（UPLC-MS/MS）法，用于检测大鼠血浆和前额叶皮质（PFC）中皮质酮（CORT）及其代谢物孕酮（PROG）和睾酮的浓度，并应用于研究慢性不可预测轻度应激（CUMS）诱导的抑郁大鼠中激素的变化。该方法在所有分析物的定量范围内均呈线性。日内和日间准确度和精密度在 80%到 120%之间。此外，我们发现 CUMS 诱导抑郁大鼠血浆和 PFC 中的 CORT 水平升高，而 11-脱氢皮质酮（11-DHCORT）以及 11-DHCORT 和 CORT 的比值下降。这些变化在中枢 PFC 和外周血浆中的趋势是一致的。总之，本研究成功建立了一种 UPLC-MS/MS 方法，用于同时测定大鼠血浆和 PFC 中 CORT 及其代谢物、PROG 和睾酮，并用其研究抑郁大鼠。该方法可进一步应用于这些甾体激素相关的抑郁和疾病的研究。
