Development and Validation of a Method for Simultaneous Determination of Hair Glucocorticoids and Endocannabinoids as Biomarkers of Stress During Pregnancy

This study developed and validated a method using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to measure stress biomarkers, specifically glucocorticoids and endocannabinoids, in hair samples from pregnant women. Hair is an ideal matrix for this analysis due to its ability to reflect long-term biomarker levels without being affected by daily fluctuations. The study analyzed 66 hair segments from 35 pregnant women, finding glucocorticoids in 62 cases and endocannabinoids in all cases, except for AEA. Notably, glucocorticoid levels increased over the trimesters, while endocannabinoid levels remained stable. These results suggest that hair analysis is a reliable, non-invasive method for monitoring stress biomarkers during pregnancy.