Analysis of testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone in saliva by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.

Testosterone and 3 beta-hydroxyandrost-5-en-17-one (dehydroepiandrosterone) have been identified in human parotid fluid and saliva by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry/selected ion monitoring analyses of the t-butyldimethylsilyl ether and methyl oxime, t-butyldimethylsilyl ether derivatives. High specificity of analysis has been achieved by the use of high mass spectrometric resolution or by the monitoring of metastable peaks. Quantitative analyses indicate concentrations of both unconjugated testosterone and unconjugated dehydroepiandrosterone in the range 200-800 pmol/l in the saliva and parotid fluid of the normal males examined. These represent 1.5-7.5% of the concentrations of the steroids in blood plasma taken from the same subjects.