Human placental JEG-3 cells conserve a high P450 aromatase activity and are therefore suitable to evaluate how contaminants may interfere with the routes involved in estrogen synthesis during pregnancy. This has been traditionally assessed by measuring aromatase activity through the amount of tritiated water (3H2O) formed during the aromatization of 1β-3H-androst-4-ene-3,17-dione (3H-AD). This work presents a greener and safer analytical approach for this purpose, which consists of the determination of the trace amounts of the steroids (estradiol, estrone, testosterone, and androstenedione) present in the culture medium. Turbulent flow chromatography coupled to liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (TFC-HPLC-MS/MS) delivered the high selectivity and sensitivity (limits of detection between 2 and 5 pg/mL) required for these measurements. Moreover, its automation allows high-throughput of samples with minimum sample handling and achieves high precision in the analysis (relative standard deviation values <6%). As a proof of concept, the method was applied to evaluate the effect of monohaloacetic acid exposure on the steroid profile of JEG-3 cells. Iodoacetic acid showed an estrogenic effect (statistically significant increase of estradiol levels compared to unexposed cells) at the highest concentration level tested (0.5 µM) that deserves further evaluation.
Keywords: Disinfection byproducts; Placental JEG-3 cells; Reprotoxicity; Sex hormones; Steroid profiling; Turbulent flow chromatography.
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