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Development of an Efficient Solid-Phase Microextraction Monolithic Column for the Analysis of Estrogens in Human Urine and Serum Samples

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Abstract

Estrogen plays a crucial role in various stages of human development and is present in the human body at trace level; therefore, an efficient strategy for the quantitative analysis of trace estrogens is required. However, this analysis is complicated by the presence of extremely complex biological matrices. To address this challenge, a novel method based on monolithic column solid-phase microextraction and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry was developed for the sensitivity analysis of six estrogens: β-estradiol, α-estradiol, 17α-ethynylestradiol, estrone, diethylstilbestrol, and hexestrol, in human urine and serum samples. The method exhibits a low limit of detection (8.6–37 ng L−1), with wide linear ranges (0.10–25 μg L−1) for each analyte and remarkable correlation coefficients (R2 = 0.9953–0.9995). The developed method was successfully used to detect estrogens in urine and serum samples. The six analytes were satisfactorily recovered between 76.2 and 107% with relative standard deviations ranging from 2.5 to 8.3% (n = 3). The results demonstrated that the developed method, based on a poly(methacrylic acid/3-acrylamidophenylboronic acid-co-ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) monolithic column, is an effective enrichment approach toward the analysis of trace estrogens in human urine and serum samples.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21505115), the Top Scientific and Technological Talents in Universities of Guizhou Province (KY2018078), the Science and Technology for Youth Talent Growth Project of the Guizhou Provincial Education Department (KY2020216), the Key Laboratory for Analytical Science of Food and Environment Pollution of Qianxinan (2021-2-31), and the Projects of Xingyi Normal University for Nationalities (21XYYB10).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biology and Chemistry, Key Laboratory for Analytical Science of Food and Environment Pollution of Qianxinan, Xingyi Normal University for Nationalities, Xingyi, 562400, People’s Republic of China

    Qianchun Zhang, Yutong Wang, Bingnian Yang, Yun Wu & Xingyi Wang

  2. Clinical Laboratory, Qian Xi Nan People’s Hospital, Xingyi, 562400, People’s Republic of China

    Linchun Bao

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  1. Qianchun Zhang
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  2. Yutong Wang
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Correspondence to Qianchun Zhang or Xingyi Wang.

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Zhang, Q., Wang, Y., Yang, B. et al. Development of an Efficient Solid-Phase Microextraction Monolithic Column for the Analysis of Estrogens in Human Urine and Serum Samples. Chromatographia 85, 733–741 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10337-022-04178-4

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