Simultaneous determination of omeprazole and its metabolites in plasma and urine by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography with an alkaline-resistant polymer-coated C18 column.

Omeprazole (OPZ) is a proton pump inhibitor in gastric parietal cells. A reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed that enables concentrations of OPZ and its major metabolites, omeprazole sulphone (OPZ-SFN) and hydroxy-omeprazole (H-OPZ), to be determined simultaneously in plasma and that of H-OPZ in urine. To prevent decomposition of OPZ, all the processes (extraction, injection and elution) were carried out under alkaline conditions. Recoveries of the analytes and internal standard were greater than 93.1%. The intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variation were less than 9.1 and 6.4% for plasma samples and less than 2.9 and 3.9% for urine samples, respectively. The minimum determinable concentration (relative standard deviation 10-15%) was 10 ng/ml for all analytes in plasma and H-OPZ in urine samples. The clinical applicability of this assay method was evaluated by determining plasma concentration-and urinary excretion-time courses of the respective analyte(s) in four healthy volunteers after an oral dose of 20 mg of OPZ. The present assay is considered to be simple, precise and accurate and suitable for the study of the kinetic disposition and metabolism of OPZ, which is an extensively metabolized drug in the human liver.