Trans fatty acids are produced in the manufacture of margarine, and these hydrogenated fatty acids may have a deleterious effect on the reduction in fasting levels of serum cholesterol anticipated from the feeding of cis polyunsaturated fatty acids. We undertook this study in rats to test the effect of feeding trans fatty acids on the intestinal uptake of glucose, fatty acids and cholesterol. Adult female Wistar rats were fed for 2 weeks semisynthetic, isocaloric diets containing no oleic acid (18:1), cis 18:1 or trans 18:1. There was no difference between the three dietary groups in the animals' food consumption or body weight gain. Rats fed trans 18:1 had an approximately 20% decline in the total weight of the ileum as compared with controls fed no 18:1, and therefore there was also a decline in the percentage of the ileal tissue comprised of mucosa. When comparing rats fed trans 18:1 with those fed cis 18:1 or no 18:1, there was no difference in the uptake of varying concentrations of D-glucose when expressed as nmol.100 mg tissue-1.min-1 or nmol.100 mg mucosal-1.min-1 for jejunum or for ileum. Also, there was no difference in the value of the maximal transport rate (Vmax), Michaelis constant (Km), or the contribution of passive uptake of glucose assessed with L-glucose. There was no diet-associated change in the jejunal or ileal uptake of a medium-chain length fatty acid (lauric acid), a long-chain length saturated fatty acid (palmitic acid), a monounsaturated fatty acid (oleic acid), two polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic and linolenic acids), or cholesterol. Thus, we conclude that 2 weeks' feeding of trans fatty acid to rats has no influence on the jejunal or ileal uptake of glucose, fatty acids or cholesterol.