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Chronic kidney disease (CKD) impairs intestinal barrier function which leads to endotoxemia and systemic inflammation. We have found depletion of intestinal epithelial tight junction (TJ) proteins in animals with CKD. We further showed that addition of end-stage renal disease patients’ plasma to the culture medium provokes a marked drop in transepithelial electrical resistance (TER) and depletion of TJ proteins in cultured human enterocytes. These effects were less severe with post-than with prehemodialysis plasma, suggesting a role of dialyzable agent (s). This study tested the hypothesis that intestinal barrier dysfunction in uremia may be due to diffusion of urea into the gut and its conversion to ammonia by microbial urease. Human enterocytes (T84 cells) were seeded on Transwell plates and utilized when TER exceeded 1,000 mΩ· cm 2 to ensure full polarization and TJ formation …