Simultaneous determination of multiple androgens in mice organs with liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

[Display omitted] •LC–MS/MS method was developed and validated to quantify six key androgens in CRPC.•First LC–MS/MS method to quantify 3α- and 3β-Diols with C18 column for separation.•Convenient method to study selective inhibition for AKR1C3 enzyme.•Method tested on mice organs administered with an androgen degradation enhancer. Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men worldwide. It is essentially dependent on potent androgens, such as testosterone (T) and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The precursors of T and DHT, which includes androstenedione (A4) and dihydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and also the metabolites of DHT, 5α-androstane-3α,17β-diol (3α-Diol) and 5α-androstane-3β,17β-diol (3β-Diol) are able to affect the development of PCa. Therefore, it is important to simultaneously determine all these key androgens. This study aims to develop and validate an LC–MS/MS quantification method to simultaneously detect and quantify the six related androgens, including T, DHT, A4, DHEA, 3α-Diol, and 3β-Diol in limited sample volume. The sample preparation involved liquid extraction with methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), following by chemical derivatisation with hydroxylamine. The limits of quantitation for T, DHT, A4, and DHEA were 0.05nM and 3α-Diol and 3β-Diol were 0.5nM with S/N ratio of at least 5:1 by using 100μL samples.