Endocrine Laboratory, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Amsterdam UMC, Location University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Amsterdam Gastroenterology, Endocrinology & Metabolism, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Clin Chem Lab Med. 2024 Jun 17;62(12):2469-2476. doi: 10.1515/cclm-2024-0142. Print 2024 Nov 26.
Steroid hormone levels of patients may be monitored via dried blood spot (DBS) sampling at home. Stability of steroid hormones in DBS samples, however, needs to be established.
DBS samples from healthy volunteers were collected and stored at various temperatures. Steroid hormone concentrations in DBS were measured directly, at day 2, day 7 and day 14 following storage at 37 °C and after 7 days, 14 days, 3 months and 6 months following storage at -20 °C, 4 °C and room temperature (RT). Cortisol, cortisone, corticosterone, testosterone, androstenedione, and 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) were assessed using LC-MS/MS.
All steroids were stable (±15 %) up to 14 days when stored at 37 °C, except for cortisone (only stable until 2 days). All steroids were stable up to 6 months when stored at -20 °C, 4 °C and RT. However, there were some exceptions, for androstenedione at RT (only stable until 7 days), for 17-OHP when stored at -20 °C (only stable until 3 months), for cortisone at RT and 4 °C (only stable until 14 days), and cortisol at RT (only stable until 3 months).
Overall, we demonstrated stability of steroid hormone concentrations in DBS under various conditions which may be encountered during shipping to the diagnostic laboratory and during long-term storage before analysis.
患者的类固醇激素水平可以通过在家中进行干血斑（DBS）采样来监测。然而，需要确定 DBS 样本中类固醇激素的稳定性。
采集健康志愿者的 DBS 样本，并在不同温度下储存。在 37°C 下储存后第 2、7 和 14 天以及在-20°C、4°C 和室温（RT）下储存 7 天、14 天、3 个月和 6 个月后，直接测量 DBS 中类固醇激素的浓度。使用 LC-MS/MS 评估皮质醇、可的松、皮质酮、睾酮、雄烯二酮和 17-羟孕酮（17-OHP）。
所有类固醇在 37°C 下储存时，除可的松（仅稳定至 2 天）外，在 14 天内稳定（±15%）。所有类固醇在-20°C、4°C 和 RT 下储存 6 个月时均稳定。然而，也有一些例外，例如 RT 下的雄烯二酮（仅稳定至 7 天）、-20°C 下储存的 17-OHP（仅稳定至 3 个月）、RT 和 4°C 下的可的松（仅稳定至 14 天）以及 RT 下的皮质醇（仅稳定至 3 个月）。
总体而言，我们证明了 DBS 中类固醇激素浓度在各种条件下的稳定性，这些条件可能在运输到诊断实验室和分析前的长期储存过程中遇到。
