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 today. The authors used an HPLC assay of barbiturates in postmortem tissue, and developed a rat model in order to evidence postmortem changes in toxics concentrations. Postmortem changes in secobarbital concentrations were evidenced using a rat-secobarbital model. This work emphasizes the difficulty of postmortem toxicology, as concentrations found at the time of autopsy may be different from concentrations at the time of death.