Separation of lansoprazole enantiomers in human serum by HPLC

Summary A new and simple HPLC method is described for the separation and quantitative determination of the (+)-and (−)-enantiomers of lansoprazole. The analytes were extracted from serum as previously described for whole lansoprazole [K. Borner, Chromatographia 45, 450–452 (1997)]. The enantiomers were separated by chromatography on a CHIRAL-AGP^R column which contained covalently bound acid α₁-glycoprotein as chiral selector. In the pure drug the (−)/(+) ratio was 0.99:1.01. In serum of twelve human volunteers the concentration of the (−)-enantiomer was 3 to 5 times higher than that of the (+)-enantiomer. Both enantiomers differ remarkably in their pharmacokinetics.