Quantification of progesterone in human saliva

Area of Science:

• Endocrinology
• Analytical Chemistry
• Reproductive Biology

Background:

• Salivary progesterone measurement is vital for understanding female reproductive health.
• Previous methods may lack the sensitivity or accuracy required for adolescent samples.
• Episodic fluctuations in progesterone are characteristic of the perimenarcheal transition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a sensitive assay for quantifying progesterone in adolescent saliva.
• To assess the suitability of the assay for detecting dynamic changes in salivary progesterone.
• To compare the developed assay with existing radioimmunoassay methods.

Main Methods:

• Development of a gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) assay.
• Derivatization of progesterone using heptafluorobutyrate for GC/MS analysis.
• Utilization of deuterated progesterone ((2H2)Progesterone) as an internal standard.
• Validation of assay linearity, accuracy, and detection limit (approx. 10 pg/mL).

Main Results:

• The GC/MS assay demonstrated excellent linearity and accuracy for salivary progesterone.
• A low detection limit of approximately 10 pg/mL was achieved, suitable for adolescent samples.
• Comparison with radioimmunoassay (RIA) showed good agreement between the two methods.
• The assay confirmed episodic increases in salivary progesterone in perimenarcheal girls.

Conclusions:

• A robust and sensitive GC/MS method for salivary progesterone quantification in adolescents has been established.
• This assay is capable of detecting physiologically relevant, episodic changes in progesterone levels.
• The findings support the use of salivary progesterone as a non-invasive biomarker in studies of female puberty and reproductive health.