Cortisol levels in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)

Introduction

The level of cortisol in the CSF can guide the diagnosis in a patient with meningitis. Bacterial meningitis and aseptic (viral) meningitis are not treated the same way. Bacterial meningitis will be treated with antibiotics, while the same antibiotics will have no effect in aseptic meningitis. Untreated, meningitis can damage the brain and nerves and can be life-threatening¹. Rapid diagnosis of the type of meningitis can allow rapid treatment and thus increase the cure rate.

The objective of this application note is to develop a method for ultra-rapid quantification of cortisol in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) using LDTD-MS/MS technology. The LDTD-MS/MS system offers specificity combined with ultra-rapid analysis for the analysis of cortisol in cerebrospinal fluid. To develop this application, we focused on making sample preparation simple and quick. LDTD-MS/MS analysis is performed in less than 10 seconds per sample.