Analysis of omeprazole and its main metabolites by liquid chromatography using hybrid micellar mobile phases

Omeprazole is a selective inhibitor of gastric acid secretion and is one of the most widely prescribed drugs internationally. A chromatographic procedure that uses micellar mobile phases of sodium dodecyl sulphate and propanol buffered at pH 7 and a C18 column is reported for the determination of omeprazole and its principal metabolites (omeprazole sulphone and hydroxyomeprazole) in urine and serum samples. In this work, direct injection and UV detection set at 305 nm was used. Omeprazole and its metabolites were eluted in less than 11min with no interference by the protein band or endogenous compounds. Adequate resolution was obtained with a chemometric approach, in which the retention factor and shape of the chromatographic peaks were taken into account. The analytical parameters including linearity (r>0.9998), intra- and inter-day precision (RSD, %: 0.6-7.9 and 0.14-4.7, respectively) and robustness were studied in the validation of the method for the three compounds. The limits of detection and quantification were less than 6 and 25ngmL(-1), respectively. Recoveries in micellar medium, plasma and urine matrices were in the 98-102% range. Finally, the method was successfully applied to the determination of omeprazole and its metabolites in physiological samples. Omeprazole was also analysed in pharmaceutical formulations.