1. The kinetics of unconjugated [14C]-bilirubin metabolism have been investigated and analysed in terms of a three-pool model in a group of seven normal subjects and in a group of eight cirrhotic patients who had appreciable impairment of liver cell function.
2. In the patients with cirrhosis, the plasma unconjugated bilirubin was either normal or only slightly increased but the metabolism of unconjugated bilirubin was deranged.
3. The mean volume of distribution, the mean 4 h retention, and the mean mass of the rapidly mixing pool were all significantly greater than in the normal subjects. In contrast, mean fractional clearance rate and mean estimated erythrocyte life-span were significantly less than in the normal subjects.
4. The mean fractional transfer rates and fluxes from pool 1 (rapidly mixing pool—‘plasma’) to pool 3 (‘extravascular’) and vice versa were significantly greater than the corresponding values in the normal subjects.
5. The results indicate that, in patients with compensated cirrhosis, the efficiency of the liver in extracting unconjugated bilirubin from plasma against a concentration gradient is impaired, even though the liver's capacity to conjugate bilirubin may be normal. As a consequence of the increased volume of distribution, the absolute hepatic clearance of unconjugated bilirubin is relatively well maintained.
