Enantioselective pharmacokinetics of mabuterol in rats studied using sequential achiral and chiral HPLC.

The enantioselective pharmacokinetics of mabuterol was studied in six rats after single oral dose administration of mabuterol racemate. Serial plasma samples were collected and the pharmacokinetic behavior of each enantiomer in rats was characterized using a sequential achiral and chiral liquid chromatographic method. This method involved the separation of mabuterol racemate from endogenous substances on an achiral ODS column and enantiomeric separation on a Chirobiotic V column. The plasma-concentration data were analyzed for individual mabuterol enantiomer using 3P97 software. After i.g. administration of mabuterol racemate at a dose of 10 mg/kg, both enantiomers were slowly absorbed, reaching mean C(max) of 266.8 and 277.9 ng/mL at t(max) of 5.3 and 5.7 h for R- and S-mabuterol, respectively. The AUC(0-infinity) (5,938.9 ng h/mL) of R-mabuterol was significantly higher than that (4,446.1 ng h/mL) of S-mabuterol, and the half-life (14.5 h) was longer than that (9.6 h) of S-mabuterol (p < 0.001 and p < 0.01, respectively), showing that enantioselective pharmacokinetics between mabuterol enantiomers occur during the metabolism phase.