ABSTRACT. Sodium-dependent bile acid upta!te is developmentally regulated in the rat ileum. Transport activity is abruptly expressed on postnatal d 17, although the mechanisms controlling this expression are poorly understood. Changes in bile salt metabolism and hepatic transport result in a marked increase in bile flow before postnatal d 17, and thus this study examined the effects of bile salt feeding on the development of ileal bile acid transport. Twelve-d-old rat pups were gavage-fed saline, taurocholate, or mannitol on a daily basis for 3 d. Sodium-dependent bile acid transport was studied by rapid filtration using ileal brush-border membrane vesicles prepared from the various experimental groups. Taurocholate feeding resulted in precocious development of sodium-dependent bile acid transport and induction of sucrase activity. Mannitol feeding, used as a control for the effects of diarrhea-induced stress, resulted in similar sucrase activity, yet sodium-dependent bile acid transport was induced to only half the level observed in taurocholate-fed animals (3.2 + 1.6 versus 6.9 + 2.0 pmol/mg protein145 s, p < 0.001). Serum corticosterone levels were similar in the mannitol-and taurocholate-fed animals (3.8 + 1.3 versus 4.6 + 1.8 yg/dL). Both feedings lead to histologic maturation of the ileum, with a more pronounced effect in the taurocholate-fed pups. Bile salt feeding induces precocious expression of ileal bile acid transport, apparently by both diarrhea-induced stress and a bile salt-specific effect. (Pediatr Res 33: 221-224,1993) Abbreviations BBMV, brush-border membrane vesicles