Development and validation of a sensitive bioanalytical method for the quantitative estimation of pantoprazole in human plasma samples by LC-MS/MS: application to bioequivalence study.

The present study aims at developing a simple, sensitive and specific liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method for the quantification of pantoprazole sodium (PS) in human plasma using pantoprazole D3 (PSD3) as internal standard (IS). Chromatographic separation was performed on Zorbax SB-C18, 4.6 mm x 75 mm, 3.5 microm, 80 A column with an isocratic mobile phase composed of 10 mM ammonium acetate (pH 7.10): acetonitrile (30:70, v/v), pumped at 0.6 mL/min. PS and PSD3 were detected with proton adducts at m/z 384.2-->200.1 and 387.1-->203.1 in multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) positive mode, respectively. Precipitation method was employed in the extraction of PS and PSD3 from the biological matrix. This method was validated over a linear concentration range of 10.00-3000.00 ng/mL with correlation coefficient (r) > or = 0.9997. Intra- and inter-day precision of PS were found to be within the range of 1.13-1.54 and 1.76-2.86, respectively. Both analytes were stable throughout freeze/thaw cycles, bench top and postoperative stability studies. This method was successfully utilized in the analysis of blood samples following oral administration of PS (40 mg) in healthy human volunteers.
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