Identification of vertebrate type steroid hormones in the shrimp <i>Penaeus japonicus</i> by tandem mass spectrometry and sequential product ion scanning

Abstract

The identification of testosterone, pregnelonone, and 17α-hydroxyprogesterone by tandem mass spectrometry and of progesterone by sequential product ion scanning in the shrimp gonads of Penaeus japonicus is described. The identification of these substances in biological samples is usually done by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and involves several liquid chromotographic purification steps followed by derivatization. The utilization of tandem mass spectrometry in this analysis has simplified considerably the sample pretreatment and provided a very simple method of screening these substances in complex mixtures.