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

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.

Graphical abstract