Gas chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis of salivary testosterone with reference to diethylstilboestrol-treated...

Testosterone has been quantified in saliva by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with selected ion monitoring of the t-butyldimethylsilyl ether (TBDMS) of the oxime derivative. High specificity of instrumental analysis has been complemented by immunoadsorption for extraction of the analyte. The sensitivity of the detection is approx. 4 pmol/l and the precision of quantification is 3.4% CV for a value of 160 pmol/l and 11% for a value of 25 pmol/l. Female subjects had salivary concentrations of testosterone of 14-52 pmol/l, while testosterone was not detected in the saliva of prostatic cancer patients treated with diethylstilboestrol (DES).