1. OBJECTIVE
Phenobarbital is a drug from the barbiturate class, used mainly due to its anticonvulsant action. This substance presents, like any other medication, the risk of adverse effects, as well as being related to acute intoxication, if concentrations in the body are higher than those recommended.

In this practice, you will perform a phenobarbital assay technique on a suspected serum sample to determine its concentration.


At the end of this experiment, you should be able to:

Evaluate biosafety procedures for determining substances in biological samples;

List the different steps for measuring phenobarbital in serum;

Correlate the data obtained by spectrophotometry with blood concentration values;

Check whether blood concentration values ​​are within the therapeutic range.

2. WHERE TO USE THESE CONCEPTS?
Although medicines are allies in the treatment of various pathologies, they can also, occasionally, be administered in larger or smaller quantities than necessary. The determination of phenobarbital in the blood helps to identify whether drug concentrations are within the therapeutic range, as well as whether exacerbated administration of the substance has occurred, accidentally or intentionally. Therefore, it is essential that professionals in the field of toxicology are familiar with this technique, mainly due to the therapeutic use of this medication, even though it presents a potential risk of intoxication, with determinations of this substance in blood samples being common in clinical practice.


3. THE EXPERIMENT
You will work in a virtual toxicology laboratory. After the correct attire and completion of the steps described in the procedure, you will measure the concentrations of phenobarbital in biological samples, using a spectrophotometer.


4. SECURITY
For this procedure, it will be necessary to use personal protective equipment (PPE), such as a lab coat and procedure gloves. It is also worth highlighting the importance of wearing closed shoes and long pants, as well as tying up long hair, to avoid exposure to possible accidents and contamination.


5. SCENARIO
This experiment will be carried out on the toxicology laboratory bench. Under this bench, you will find the sample to be dosed and the reagents and materials to be used, as well as a centrifuge and a spectrophotometer. Good studies.