Chloroquine (CQ), a bitter tasting drug widely used in treatment of malaria, is associated gastrointestinal side effects including nausea or diarrhea. In the present study, we investigated the effect of CQ on electrolyte transport in rat ileum using the Ussing chamber technique. The results showed that CQ evoked an increase in short circuit current (ISC) in rat ileum at lower concentration (≤5×10(-4) M) but induced a decrease at higher concentrations (≥10(-3) M). These responses were not affected by tetrodotoxin (TTX). Other bitter compounds, such as denatoniumbenzoate and quinine, exhibited similar effects. CQ-evoked increase in ISC was partly reduced by amiloride(10(-4) M), a blocker of epithelial Na(+) channels. Furosemide (10(-4) M), an inhibitor of Na(+)-K(+)-2Cl(-) co-transporter, also inhibited the increased ISC response to CQ, whereas another Cl(-) channel inhibitor, CFTR(inh)-172(10(-5) M), had no effect. Intriguingly, CQ-evoked increases were almost completely abolished by niflumic acid (10(-4) M), a relatively specific Ca(2+)-activated Cl(-) channel (CaCC) inhibitor. Furthermore, other CaCC inhibitors, such as DIDS and NPPB, also exhibited similar effects. CQ-induced increases in ISC were also abolished by thapsigargin(10(-6) M), a Ca(2+) pump inhibitor and in the absence of either Cl(-) or Ca(2+) from bathing solutions. Further studies demonstrated that T2R and CaCC-TMEM16A were colocalized in small intestinal epithelial cells and the T2R agonist CQ evoked an increase of intracelluar Ca(2+) in small intestinal epithelial cells. Taken together, these results demonstrate that CQ induces Cl(-) secretion in rat ileum through CaCC at low concentrations, suggesting a novel explanation for CQ-associated gastrointestinal side-effects during the treatment of malaria.