Detection of dehydroepiandrosterone and androsterone in a traditional Chinese herbal product

Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and androsterone (ADT) were detected in a traditional Chinese herbal product by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). DHEA and ADT were tentatively identified by comparing their electron ionization (EI) mass spectra with those in the GC-MS Wiley database. A multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) scan was performed in LC-MS/MS to confirm the presence of the DHEA and ADT in the herbal product extract. Both the [M + H]+ and the [M + NH4]+ of DHEA and ADT were selected as the precursor ions. DHEA was detected with ion transitions m/z 306.4 --> 271.2, 306.4 --> 253.3, 289.2 --> 270.9, 289.3 --> 253.1 while ADT was detected with ion transitions m/z 308.5 --> 273.6, 308.5 --> 255.3, 291.5 --> 273.5, 291.5 --> 255.2, which confirmed the presence of the two steroid hormones in the herbal product. Limits of detection (LODs) of 0.2 microg ml(-1) for DHEA and 0.3 microg ml(-1) for ADT were found in methanolic standard solutions when [M +NH4]+ of DHEA and ADT were selected as the precursor ions, which allowed the detection of DHEA and ADT at trace level without time-consuming derivatization.