Measurement of Steroid Hormones by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry with Small Amounts of Hair

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.