Lansoprazole quantification in human plasma by liquid chromatography–electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

An analytical method based on liquid chromatography with positive ion electrospray ionization (ESI) coupled to tandem mass spectrometry detection was developed for the determination of lansoprazole in human plasma using omeprazole as the internal standard. The analyte and internal standard were extracted from the plasma samples by liquid–liquid extraction using diethyl-ether–dichloromethane (70:30; v/v) and chromatographed on a C18 analytical column. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile–water (90:10; v/v)+10 mM formic acid. The method has a chromatographic total run time of 5 min and was linear within the range 2.5–2000 ng/ml. Detection was carried out on a Micromass triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometer by Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM). The intra- and inter-run precision, calculated from quality control (QC) samples, was less than 3.4%. The accuracy as determined from QC samples was less than 9%. The method herein described was employed in a bioequivalence study of two capsule formulations of lansoprazole.