In order to evaluate relative roles of various mechanisms of glucose transport in the small intestine at high substrate loads in chronic experiments on rats, we investigated kinetics of glucose absorption in isolated part (-20 cm) of the intestine after its perfusion for 6 and 14 days during 1.5 h per day with 125 mM glucose solution (gr. 1--increased substrate load) or during 45-60 min per day with 25 mM glucose solution (gr. 2--reduced substrate load). The results of the experiments were analyzed by means of mathematical simulation. It was found that in the rats of gr. 1 the regular substrate load was more effective in maintaining a high level of glucose absorption in the isolated part of the intestine. Adaptation of glucose absorption to the increased local glucose load occurs due to enhancement of the secondary active transport via SGLT1. This component in many times exceeds the "unsaturated" component of glucose absorption, which is mainly determined by the facilitated diffusion via GLUT2, both at high and low glucose concentrations in the intestinal lumen.