Recently, several polymers have been reported to modulate drug absorption by inhibition of intestinal efflux pumps such as multidrug resistance proteins (MRPs) and P-glycoprotein (P-gp). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the efficiency of thiolated poly(acrylic acid) (PAA-Cys) to act as a drug absorption modulator for MRP2 efflux pump substrates in vivo, using sulforhodamine 101 as representative MRP2 substrate. In vitro, the permeation-enhancing effect of unmodified PAA and PAA(250)-Cys(,) displaying 580 micromol free thiol groups per gram polymer, was evaluated by using freshly excised rat intestinal mucosa mounted in Ussing-type chambers. In comparison to that of the buffer control, the sulforhodamine 101 transport in the presence of 0.5% unmodified PAA(250) and 0.5% (w/v) PAA(250)-Cys was 1.3- and 4.0-fold improved, respectively. In vivo, sulforhodamine 101 solutions containing 4% (w/v) unmodified PAA(250) or 4% (w/v) thiolated PAA(250) were orally given to rats. The PAA(250)-Cys solution increased the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC(0-12)) of sulforhodamine 101 3.8-fold in comparison to control and 2.2-fold in comparison to unmodified PAA(250). This in vivo study revealed that PAA(250)-Cys significantly increased the oral bioavailability of MRP2 substrate sulforhodamine 101.