The aim of the present study was to compare the pharmacokinetics of rabeprazole (CAS 117976-89-3) and itopride (CAS 122898-67-3) after oral administration of a rabeprazole (20 mg)-itopride (150 mg) fixed dose combination (FDC) in healthy human volunteers. The bioequivalence of two formulations (test and reference) was determined in 12 healthy Indian male volunteers (age: 25.25 +/- 4.69 years; weight: 60.50 +/- 5.04 kg) in a randomized, single-dose, two-period, two-treatment crossover study. Both formulations were administered orally as a single dose, with the treatments separated by a washout period of 1 week. Rabeprazole and itopride plasma levels were determined by a validated HPLC method using UV detection. The formulations were compared using the pharmacokinetic parameters area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC(0-t)), area under the plasma concentration-time curve from zero to infinity (AUC(0-infinity)) and peak plasma concentration (Cmax). General linear model (GLM) procedures were used in which sources of variation were subject, treatment and period. The results indicated that there were no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05) between the logarithmically transformed AUC(0-infinity) and Cmax values between test and reference formulation. The 90% confidence interval for the ratio of the logarithmically transformed AUC(0-t), AUC(0-infinity) and Cmax were within the bioequivalence limits of 0.8-1.25 and the relative bioavailability of rabeprazole and itopride test and reference formulations was 98.24 and 93.65%, respectively.