Lack of effect of omeprazole, a potent inhibitor of gastric (H+ + K+) ATPase, on hepatic lysosomal integrity and enzyme activity.

The substituted benzimidazole, omeprazole, is a potent inhibitor of the ATP-dependent proton pump of the parietal cell. Since there is accumulating evidence that hepatic lysosomes also possess an ATP-dependent proton pump system to maintain internal acidification, and since antibodies to the putative lysosomal proton pump protein are immunologically similar to the parietal cell (H+ + K+) ATPase, we studied the effects in rats of six days of omeprazole treatment on hepatic lysosomal function. Omeprazole, 5 mg kg-1, a dose five times the ED50 for gastric acid secretion inhibition in rats, did not alter the activity of three representative lysosomal enzymes in liver (acid phosphatase, beta-galactosidase and N-acetyl-beta-glucosaminidase) nor did it alter lysosomal enzyme latency, a measure of the integrity of the lysosomal membrane. Furthermore, bile flow and the secretion of lysosomal enzymes into bile were also unaffected by omeprazole. These data indicate that in rats short-term treatment with omeprazole, in doses that markedly inhibit gastric acid secretion, has no major biological effect on liver lysosomal integrity and lysosomal enzyme activity.