upon Tyne NE2 4HH1 Human intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells, T84 cells, and MDCKII cells transfected with human MDR1, were used to investigate the mechanistic basis of transintestinal¯uoroquinolone secretion. 2 The¯uoroquinolone grepa¯oxacin was secreted across Caco-2 monolayers by a saturable process (V max =16.9+3.4 nmol.cm 72 .h 71 ). Net secretion was reduced by 2-deoxyglucose/azide treatment to reduce intracellular ATP. 3 Grepa¯oxacin inhibited [ 14 C]-cipro¯oxacin (100 mM) secretion across Caco-2 monolayers (K 0.5 =0.8 mM), and concurrently increased the cellular accumulation of cipro¯oxacin from the basal medium, indicating inhibition of export across the apical membrane. 4 The unconjugated bile acid, cholic acid, was secreted across Caco-2 monolayers, and this secretion was sensitive to inhibition by the MRP-selective inhibitor MK-571, suggesting MRP2 involvement. Secretion of cholic acid (10 mM) across the apical membrane was also inhibited by grepa¯oxacin (K 0.5 =0.3 mM), but not by cipro¯oxacin. 5 In MDCKII-MDR1 monolayers, net secretion of grepa¯oxacin was increased by 3.5 fold compared with untransfected controls. Neither cipro¯oxacin nor cholic acid showed net secretion in either MDCKII or MDCKII-MDR1 monolayers, showing that in contrast to grepa¯oxacin, neither are substrates for MDR1. 6 In T84 monolayers, which express MDR1 but not MRP2, neither cipro¯oxacin nor cholic acid was secreted, whilst the V max for grepa¯oxacin secretion was lower than in Caco-2 cells, which express both MDR1 and MRP2. 7 In conclusion, the transepithelial secretion of grepa¯oxacin is mediated by both MRP2 and MDR1, whereas cipro¯oxacin is a substrate for neither. Grepa¯oxacin also competes for the cipro¯oxacin-sensitive pathway, which remains to be elucidated.