Determination of prostatic androgens in 10 mg of tissue using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry with charged derivatization.

A practical liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS-MS) method for the determination of prostatic 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and testosterone (T) has been developed. The prostatic androgens were extracted with MeOH-H2O (3:7, v/v), purified with an Oasis HLB cartridge, derivatized with the permanently charged reagent 2-hydrazino-1-methylpyridine (HMP), and subjected to LC-MS-MS analysis using electrospray ionization (ESI) operated in the positive ion mode. The derivatization with HMP was very effective at increasing the detectability using the positive-ESI-MS. The method allowed the reproducible and accurate quantification of ng g(-1) tissue levels of prostatic androgens in 10 mg of tissue. That is, the intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation were below 8.1 and 9.3%, respectively, and the analytical recoveries of the androgens were quantitative. The limits of quantitation for DHT and T were both 1.0 ng g(-1) tissue. The developed method was used to determine DHT and T in the prostates of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer, and satisfactory results were obtained.