OBJECTIVE The apical sodium-dependent bile acid transporter is critical for intestinal reclamation of bile salts. Its expression and activity, along with the ileal lipid-binding protein, were studied before and after intestinal resection in the rat. METHODS The effects of surgical resection and bile acid feeding on the expression of ileal bile acid transport were assessed by a combination of functional (taurocholate uptake into crude brush border membrane vesicles) and molecular assays (Northern and Western blotting). RESULTS Transport, apical sodium-dependent bile acid transporter and ileal lipid-binding protein messenger RNA and protein expression were restricted to the distal 30 cm of ileum. After resection, transport and expression were limited to the remaining portions of this segment. Limited ileal resection increased protein mass and, therefore, transport in the terminal 5 cm of ileum without a specific increase in transporter gene expression. Increased bile acid presentation to the terminal ileum did not induce ileal hyperplasia. Eighty-five percent intestinal resection led to ileal hypertrophy and a specific repression in bile acid transport activity. CONCLUSIONS Native and compensatory bile acid transporter gene expression occur predominantly in the terminal 30 cm of ileum. The specific ileal responses to intestinal resection are dependent on the extent of resection.