Pharmacology

Despite their sho half-lives (2 hours), Proton pump Inhibitors (PPIs) cause a prolonged suppression of acid secretion (up to 48 hours) because:

They are prodrugs and undergo activation gradually

They exit from the plasma and enter acid secretory canaliculi and stay there, blocking the secretion of acid for a long time

They irreversibly inhibit the proton pump molecule and hence, acid secretion requires synthesis of new proton pumps

They are available as enteric coated capsules, from which drug is gradually released