Pharmacokinetic parameters were studied after i.v. infusion of erythromycin (500 mg) in five patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and six normal subjects. Serum AAG levels were 4.7 +/- 2.4 mumol l-1 in cirrhotics and 10.3 +/- 2.1 +/- mumol l-1 in normals. The unbound fraction (fu) of erythromycin was significantly higher in cirrhotic patients (58.3 +/- 17.7%) than in normal subjects (30.5 +/- 2.8%, P less than 0.01), and a negative correlation was found between fu values and serum AAG (r = -0.867, P less than 0.01). Due to increase in fu, volume of distribution (Vss) was significantly augmented in cirrhotics (85.5 +/- 23.8 l vs 57.6 +/- 14.8 l, P less than 0.05). Serum clearance of unbound erythromycin (CLu) was significantly reduced in cirrhotic patients (42.2 +/- 10.1 l h-1 vs 113.2 +/- 44.2 l h-1 in normal subjects, P less than 0.01). This led to marked elevation of serum concentrations of unbound drug and was entirely explained by the decrease of non renal (i.e. hepatic intrinsic) clearance (31.6 +/- 7.5 l h-1 in cirrhotics, 98.6 +/- 41.5 l h-1 in normals, P less than 0.02); renal clearance remained unchanged. It is concluded that in cirrhotic patients, low serum AAG levels and reduced liver metabolic capacity may lead to marked changes in pharmacokinetics of erythromycin, and that similar results might be expected for drugs which exhibit the same serum binding and pharmacokinetic behaviour as erythromycin.