We have shown that, within therapeutic plasma concentrations, the unbound fraction of furosemide changes in direct proportion to the reciprocal of the plasma albumin concentration (correlation coefficient 0.99). Changes in the albumin concentration were produced by ultrafiltration of human plasma using a haemofiltration filter. Thus, we propose that, when studying changes in the pharmacokinetics of a highly protein bound drug, calculated changes in the unbound fraction offer an alternative to actual measurement of the unbound concentration, which is often difficult. Nine healthy volunteers receiving a continuous furosemide infusion were studied in normovolaemia and after dehydration (-1.4 kg), with and without pretreatment with an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (captopril) or an a1-adrenoceptor blocking agent (prazosin). Significantly larger changes in the renal clearance of furosemide were found that could be explained by changes in the unbound fraction. Following dehydration, the unbound fraction of furosemide was decreased by about 5%, while its renal clearance fell by 27%, 33% and 13% after pretreatment with placebo, captopril and prazosin, respectively. The secretory clearance of the unbound furosemide changed substantially and in parallel with changes in the renal blood flow. It is suggested that changes in the renal clearance and excretion of furosemide and its t1/2 are much more dependent on changes in renal blood flow than on changes in its unbound fraction.