In-situ layer-by-layer synthesized TpPa-1 COF solid-phase microextraction fiber for detecting sex hormones in serum

The secretion disorder of sex hormones is the source that leads to the occurrence of many diseases such as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), hyperandrogenism and so on. There exist physiological changes in human body when slight fluctuations in concentrations of sex hormones happen. Therefore, it’s of great significance for accurate detection of sex hormones in human body. In this work, TpPa-1 COF solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber was prepared using high-efficient in-situ synthesis strategy and coupled with HPLC-MS/MS to detect three sex hormones, including Progesterone (P), testosterone (T) and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in human serum. The thickness of the coating reached 7 μm within 2 h. Under the optimal conditions, the established method presented low limit of detections (LODs, ≤ 0.75 ng/mL), wide linear ranges (0.100–100 ng mL−1) and good reproducibility, and three sex hormones (T, P, DHEA) were successfully detected and quantified in human serum. In conclusion, the established SPME method presented high-efficient fiber preparation and good analytical performances of sex hormone detection, therefore was in great potential for application in clinical.