Rapid quantification of human urinary estrogens and estrogen metabolites by HPLC mass spectrometry

3D hotspot engineering and analytes strategy enabled ultrasensitive SERS platform for biosensing of depression biomarker

Nowadays, the diagnose of depression mainly relies on clinical examination while impossible to accurately evaluate the occurrence of depression. Chemical approaches are captivating to analyze stress biomarkers for feedbacking body's endocrine response to stress stimuli. However, it remains challenging in exploring accurate, reliable and sensitive approaches. Herein, we rationally design a newly SERS platform with integrated hotspots engineering and analyte strategy to achieve highly sensitive analysis for estrogen, a typical depression biomarker in adolescent female. On the one hand, the 3D micro/nano plasmonic substrate containing Au-Ag Alloy Nanourchins (AAA-NUs) and arrays-based monolayer films of Au nanoparticles (Au NSs) was constructed to achieve high density and availability of hotspots. On the other hand, the analyte strategy was designed via rapid azotizing reaction to further enhance the scattering cross-section of estrogen in the form of azido compounds. With the synergism of them, the proposed SERS platform displayed high sensitivity for estrogen with a limit of detection down to 10-11 mg/mL. More importantly, the blood estrogen levels of depressed patients were evaluated via the proposed SERS platform and presented high consistence with clinical diagnostic results. This integrated SERS platform paves the way for universal and ultrasensitive biosensing and possess great potential for applying in multi-target detection and disease prediction.

Polyaniline-silica doped with oxalic acid as a novel extractor phase in thin film solid-phase microextraction for determination of hormones in urine

In this study, different polyanilines were synthesized and evaluated for the determination of three hormones, including 17-β-estradiol, 17-α-ethinylestradiol, and estrone, in urine using a novel methodology based on thin film solid-phase microextraction technique, employing the sampling well plate system. The extractor phases, designated as polyaniline doped with hydrochloric acid, polyaniline doped with oxalic acid, polyaniline-silica doped with hydrochloric acid, and polyaniline-silica doped with oxalic acid, were characterized by electrical conductivity measurements, scanning electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The optimized extraction conditions were composed of 1.5 mL of urine and pH adjusted to 10, with no need to dilute sample and the desorption step, 300 μL of acetonitrile was used. The calibration curves were performed in the sample matrix, with detection and quantification limits ranged from 0.30 to 3.03 μg L-1 and from 1.0 to 10.0 μg L-1 , respectively, with r ≥ 0.9969. The relative recoveries ranged from 71% to 115%, and intraday precision showed values ≤12% and interday ≤20%. The applicability of the method was successfully evaluated, and six urine samples from female volunteers were analyzed. The analytes were not detected or were below the limits of quantification in these samples.

Twelve natural estrogens in urines of six threatened or endangered mammalian species in Zoo Park: implications and their potential risk

This work was the first to report twelve natural estrogens (NEs) in the urines of six threatened or endangered mammalians in a Zoo Park of Guangzhou (i.e., panda, gorilla, elephant, African lion, jaguar, and leopard). Ten out of twelve NEs were detected at least in one urine sample of the six mammalians studied, including the four major NEs (i.e., estrone (E1), 17β-estradiol (E2), 17α-estradiol (αE2), estriol (E3)), and six other NEs (i.e., 4-hydroxyestrone (4OHE1), 2-hydroxyestradiol (2OHE2), 4-hydroxyestradiol (4OHE2), 16α-hydroxyestrone (16α-OHE1), 16ketoestradiol (16ketoE2), and 17epiestriol (17epiE3)). The six studied mammalians, ranked in the order of high to low urinary concentration of total NEs, were jaguar, African lion, gorilla, elephant, panda, and leopard, with respective urinary concentrations of 110.4, 86.4, 71.4, 66.0, 55.9, and 52.8 ng/mL. According to the average urinary concentration of NE in the six mammalians ranked from high to low, the top five NEs detected were 16α-OHE1, 4OHE1, E1, E3, and 17epiE3, respectively. These clearly indicated the occurrence of NEs other than the four major types in urines of animals in a Zoo Park. Moreover, the daily excretion rates of the five detected NEs by one elephant ranged from 1162-2254 μg/d with a total daily excretion rate of 8260 μg/d, suggesting that the total urinary excretion of NEs by one adult elephant was equivalent to that by 170 premenopausal women or 506 adult men. Consequently, it appears from this study that NEs in the urines of zoo animals should be considered an emerging source of NEs.