AN EXPERIMENTAL METHODOLOGY FOR THE STUDY OF POSTMORTEM CHANGES IN TOXIC CONCENTRATIONS OF DRUGS, USING SECOBARBITAL AS AN EXAMPLE

Postmortem changes in alcohol and drug concentrations are well known t oday. The authors used an HPLC assay of barbiturates in postmortem tis sue, and developed a rat model in order to evidence postmortem changes in toxics concentrations. Postmortem changes in secobarbital concentr ations were evidenced using a rat-secobarbital model. This work emphas izes the difficulty of postmortem toxicology, as concentrations found at the time of autopsy may be different from concentrations at the tim e of death.