Technical Note: Comparison of Plain and Serum-Separator Blood Collection Tubes for the Measurement of Steroid Hormones by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS): Observation of Erroneous Peaks in Serum Separator Tubes for Analysis of Testosterone and Dehydroepiandrosterone
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-2025
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Liquid chromatography combined with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) is the gold standard for the analysis of steroids including 11-deoxycortisol, androstenedione, testosterone, 17-hydroxyprogesterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in serum or plasma. In our hospital we observed an occasional problem in analysis of testosterone in some patients when blood was collected in Beckton-Dickinson serum separator gel tubes (BD gel tubes). Therefore, we investigated this issue.
METHODS: Blood was collected from 10 volunteers (five males and five females) simultaneously in plain red top tubes (no gel), Greiner serum separator gel tubes (Greiner gel tube), and BD (Beckton-Dickinson) gel tubes followed by extraction of steroids from serum, reconstitution with mobile phase, and subsequent analysis of various steroids using LC-MS/MS in a single run.
RESULTS: No interfering peak was observed when blood was collected in plain red top tube for all five steroids. However, we observed clinically significant interference with low testosterone values when blood specimens were collected in BD gel tubes. For DHEA, we observed interference when blood was collected in BD gel tubes and Griner tubes. Other steroids were not affected.
CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that BD serum separator gel tube may not be suitable for analysis of testosterone in women and DHEA for both men and women.
Journal Title
Annals of clinical and laboratory science
Volume
55
Issue
3
First Page
449
Last Page
452
MeSH Keywords
Humans; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Testosterone; Chromatography, Liquid; Dehydroepiandrosterone; Male; Female; Blood Specimen Collection; Adult; Steroids; Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
PubMed ID
40750244
Keywords
17-hydroxyprogesterone; Beckton-Dickinson serum separator gel; Dehydroepiandrosterone; Greiner serum separator gel; LC-MS/MS; testosterone.
Recommended Citation
Garg U, Ramoo B, Frazee C 3rd, Dasgupta A. Technical Note: Comparison of Plain and Serum-Separator Blood Collection Tubes for the Measurement of Steroid Hormones by Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS): Observation of Erroneous Peaks in Serum Separator Tubes for Analysis of Testosterone and Dehydroepiandrosterone. Ann Clin Lab Sci. 2025;55(3):449-452.
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