| Description |
Rabeprazole belongs to a class of anti secretory compounds (substituted benzimidazole
proton-pump inhibitors) that do not exhibit anticholinergic or histamine H2-receptor antagonist properties,
but suppress gastric acid secretion by inhibiting the gastric H+/K+ATPase (hydrogen-potassium adenosine
triphosphatase) at the secretory surface of the gastric parietal cell. Because this enzyme is regarded
as the acid (proton) pump within the parietal cell, rabeprazole has been characterized as a gastric
proton-pump inhibitor. Rabeprazole blocks the final step of gastric acid secretion. In gastric parietal
cells, rabeprazole is protonated, accumulates, and is transformed to an active sulfenamide. When studied
in vitro, rabeprazole is chemically activated at pH 1.2 with a half-life of 78 seconds.
Levosulpiride is more selective and acts primarily as a dopamine D2 antagonist.
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