Enzymic digestion of liver tissue to release barbiturates, salicylic acid and other acidic compounds in cases of human poisoning.

The proteolytic enzyme subtilisin Carlsberg has been used to digest human liver tissues containing barbiturates, salicylic acid and a mixture of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic and 2,4-dichlorophenoxypropionic acids. The levels of the drugs released by this method were significantly higher than those measured by using conventional procedures for tissue degradation. The enzymic digestion of tissues is easy to manipulate, yields reproducible results and is inexpensive.