Determination of Sex Hormones in Antler Velvet by High Performance Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Eighteen sex hormones in antler velvet were determined by high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. The solid phase extraction was applied to eliminating the matrix effect. The experimental conditions were examined and optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the proposed method provides the good linearities and determination limits(0.2-1.0 mu g/kg) of the analytes investigated. The recoveries ranging from 72.3% to 149.5% were obtained for the target analytes at two concentration levels. This method was applied to the determination of eighteen sex hormones in different kinds of antler velvet samples and the obtained results are satisfactory. The results indicate that the proposed method is suitable for the determination of sex hormones in antler velvet samples.