The protein binding of some drugs in plasma from patients with alcoholic liver disease.

The binding of 5 drugs to plasma proteins from patients with alcoholic liver disease has been studied by in vitro techniques and compared to that from normal subjects. The binding of quinidine is decreased in such patients. For this reason, if in patients with alcoholic liver disease treated for coincidental arrhythmias with quinidine, plasma quinidine concentrations are measured, allowance for the decreased binding must be made in interpreting the concentration measurements. Diphenylhydantoin binding was normal or near normal in most of the patients' plasma samples. The other drugs tested, fluorescein, dapsone, and triamterene, had decreased binding in the patients' plasma samples.