1 Intestinal xenobiotic transporters are a signi®cant barrier to the absorption of many orally administered drugs. P-glycoprotein (PGP) is the best known, but several others, including members of the multidrug resistance-associated protein (MRP) family, are also expressed. De®nitive information on their precise e ect on intestinal drug permeability is scarce due to a lack of speci®c inhibitors and the di culty of studying non-PGP activity in the presence of high PGP expression. 2 We have investigated the in vitro use of intestinal tissues from PGP knockout (mdr1a (7/7)) mice as a tool for dissecting the mechanisms of intestinal drug e ux. The permeability characteristics of digoxin (DIG), paclitaxel (TAX) and etoposide (ETOP) were measured in ileum from mdr1a (7/7) and wild-type (FVB) mice mounted in Ussing chambers. 3 DIG and TAX exhibited marked e ux across FVB tissues (B-A : A-B apparent permeability (P app ) ratio 10 and 17 respectively) which was absent in mdr1a (7/7) tissues, con®rming that PGP is the sole route of intestinal e ux for these compounds. The A-B P app of both compounds was 3 ± 5 fold higher in mdr1a (7/7) than in FVB. 4 Polarized transport of ETOP in FVB tissues was reduced but not abolished in mdr1a (7/7) tissues. Residual ETOP e ux in mdr1a (7/7) tissues was abolished by the MRP inhibitor MK571, indicating involvement of both PGP and MRP. 5 MK571 abolished calcein e ux in mdr1a (7/7) tissues, while quinidine had no parallel e ect in FVB tissues, suggesting involvement of MRP but not PGP. 6 Tissues from mdr1a (7/7) mice provide a novel approach for investigating the in¯uence of PGP ablation on intestinal permeability and for resolving PGP and non-PGP mechanisms that modulate drug permeability.