Completion of the 1st Generation Steroid Hormone Assay

An important objective of the Ultradian research project is to develop an analytical platform to determine the minute levels of steroid hormones found in microdialysate. The Platform for Metabolomics at the University of Bergen has completed the 1^st Generation Assay. This marks an important milestone as it enables the measurement of the key hormones of clinical studies.

The assay is based on liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We have achieved extremely sensitive measurements, which supersede, in some cases by far, previously published methods. For example, aldosterone in microdialysate can now be detected at a level of only 20 pmol/L using only 10 µL sample. The method is automated and capable of high-throughput analysis.

Further work is ongoing to expand the panel of hormones included.