Mass Spectrometry for the Endocrine Clinic - Much to Digest.

Abstract

The application of mass spectrometry (MS) is a growing presence in the endocrine laboratory; an elegant analytical technique that discriminates and quantifies analytes by mass:charge (m:z) ratio, akin to a 'molecular sieve'. In contrast, the basic principle of immunoassay (IA) is founded on the molecular interaction between reagent antibody and antigen (analyte of interest). Driven largely by the limitations of conventional IA methodology, including the ever-present risk of interference from anti-reagent antibodies and endogenous autoantibodies, susceptibility to cross-reactivity with structurally-related compounds (e.g. prednisolone cross-reactivity in cortisol assay), and the high-dose hook effect; MS is now the method of choice for the routine measurement of steroid hormones. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.