TLDR A new method accurately measures steroid hormones in a few hair strands and could help study chronic stress and hair loss.
In a study by Hobo et al., a new LC-MS/MS method was developed to measure ten steroid hormones in 5 to 10 hair strands, demonstrating high accuracy (96.0-106.4% intra-assay and 96.9-104.9% inter-assay) and precision (4.8-10.6%). The method used a novel extraction solvent, improving cortisol extraction by about two-fold. It showed good linearity, acceptable matrix effects, and high recovery rates (94.1-108.3%) for the hormones. Applied to 6 healthy male volunteers, the method successfully measured 8 out of 10 steroids, suggesting its potential for evaluating chronic stress and alopecia-related conditions with minimal sample requirements. The method's sensitivity and low invasiveness make it suitable for large-scale studies and could clarify the relationship between steroid hormone levels and hair loss diseases.
30 citations,
April 2011 in “Rapid communications in mass spectrometry/RCM. Rapid communications in mass spectrometry” Analyzing hair with this method can help understand and monitor scalp conditions and treatment effects.
501 citations,
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3 citations,
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7 citations,
November 2022 in “Toxics” The method accurately measures 19 steroid hormones in human blood and urine using a small sample and is suitable for large-scale monitoring.
117 citations,
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14 citations,
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