Simultaneous determination of seven gestagens in kidney fats by Ultra Performance Convergence Chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

An ultra-performance convergence chromatography (UPC2) system coupled tandem mass spectrometry was successfully utilised to analyse chlormadinone acetate, delmadinone acetate, fluorogestone acetate, medroxyprogesterone acetate, megestrol acetate, melengestrol acetate, chlortestasterone acetate in bovine and porcine kidney fat. This novel approach obtained an improved resolution in comparison to previously reported chromatographic methods combined with MS detector in a shorter analytical time. All the acetylgestagen compounds were well separated on a ACQUITY UPC² HSS C₁₈ column (3.0×100mm, 1.7μm) by applying methanol and carbon dioxide (2/98). The LOQ of delmadinone acetate, melengestrol acetate, medroxyprogesterone acetate and megestrol acetate are 0.5μg/kg, fluorogestone acetate, chlormadinone acetate and chlortestasterone acetate 1.0μg/kg. The recoveries of gestagens spiked in kidney fats at a concentration range of 0.5 to 4μg/kg were above 86.1% with relative standard deviations (RSD) less than 13.1%. These rapid and reliable methods can be used to efficiently separate, characterize and quantify the residues of gestagens in kidney fats with advantages of shorter time, more sensitive and environmental friendly.