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Updated: Feb 2, 2026

Extraction and Analysis of Cortisol from Human and Monkey Hair
Published on: January 24, 2014
Quantitative profiling of cortisol metabolites in human urine by high-resolution accurate-mass MS
Yi Wang1, Naomi Fujioka2, Chengguo Xing1
1Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
Abstract:
Aim, materials & methods: Urinary cortisol profile has the potential as a diagnostic biomarker. We therefore developed a stable-isotope dilution ultraperformance chromatography multistage MS-based method to quantify cortisol and 16 metabolites in human urines. Results & conclusion: The LOD for cortisol and its metabolites ranges from 0.02 to 5.81 pg/μl urine. The inter- and intraday variations were 3.7-12.9% and 3.5-15.6%, respectively. Among the metabolites analyzed, significant person-to-person heterogeneity was observed, demonstrating the need for comprehensive metabolite profiling in diagnosis. Nevertheless, the glucuronides of dihydrocortisol, dihydrocortisone, tetrahydrocortisol, allo-tetrahydrocortisol and tetrahydrocortisone are the major ones. The sum of the glucuronidated and free forms constitute >93% of the metabolites analyzed, which is termed as total cortisol equivalent. Total cortisol equivalent may serve as a surrogate of cortisol secretion. Clinical trial registration number: NCT02500472.
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