Profiling Steroid and Thyroid Hormones with Hair Analysis in a Cohort of Women Aged 25 to 45 Years Old

This study developed and validated a method for analyzing 36 steroid and thyroid hormones, plus one pineal hormone, in human hair using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The method involved hair decontamination, pulverization, methanol extraction, and purification, and was applied to a cohort of healthy women aged 25-45 years. Of the 37 targeted hormones, 32 were detected in 2-100% of the samples, and reference intervals were established for nine hormones. High correlations were found between concentrations of cortisone, cortisol, tetrahydrocortisone, and tetrahydrocortisol in hair. This method allows for a broader hormonal profiling, which could improve the identification of endocrine disorders.