肠道屏障稳态在个体整体健康中的作用，已经受到科学界的广泛关注。结直肠癌是最影响这种生物屏障的疾病之一。尽管化疗是治疗这种癌症的首选方法，但多药耐受（MDR）是常用药物的主要障碍，其中ATP结合盒运输体（ABC运输体）是主要的参与者。糖蛋白（P-gp）、多药耐受蛋白1（MRP1）或乳腺癌耐药蛋白（ABCG2）在化疗药物外流中的作用在癌细胞中已经得到很好的描述，突显了这些蛋白质成为有趣的可药靶点，以逆转MDR，减少药物剂量以及因此产生的不良毒性。天然产物，尤其是植物化学物质，具有广泛的化学结构多样性，一些特定类别，如酚酸、黄酮类化合物或五环三萜类化合物，已被报道为P-gp、MRP1和ABCG2的抑制剂，能够使癌细胞向化疗药物敏感。然而，ABC运输体在细胞对抗异物的防御中发挥着至关重要的作用，一些植物化学物质也被证明可以诱导这些运输体的活性。必须在非肿瘤细胞的异物外流和癌细胞的化疗药物生物积累之间取得平衡，在其中ABC运输体是必不可少的，而天然产物则发挥着关键的作用，必须进一步加以分析。本综述总结了关于ABC运输体命名法和功能的知识，强调它们在肠道屏障细胞中的作用。此外，它还着重介绍了常见食品中天然产物（如植物化学物质）作为ABC运输体活性和表达的调节剂，这些物质是有前途的营养保健分子，可用于制定新的药物组合以克服多药耐受症。

The role of intestinal barrier homeostasis in an individual's general well-being has been widely addressed by the scientific community. Colorectal cancer is among the illnesses that most affect this biological barrier. While chemotherapy is the first choice to treat this type of cancer, multidrug resistance (MDR) is the major setback against the commonly used drugs, with the ATP-binding cassette transporters (ABC transporters) being the major players. The role of P-glycoprotein (P-gp), multidrug resistance protein 1 (MRP1), or breast cancer resistance protein (ABCG2) in the efflux of chemotherapeutic drugs is well described in cancer cells, highlighting these proteins as interesting druggable targets to reverse MDR, decrease drug dosage, and consequently undesired toxicity. Natural products, especially phytochemicals, have a wide diversity of chemical structures, and some particular classes, such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, or pentacyclic triterpenoids, have been reported as inhibitors of P-gp, MRP1, and ABCG2, being able to sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapy drugs. Nevertheless, ABC transporters play a vital role in the cell's defense against xenobiotics, and some phytochemicals have also been shown to induce the transporters' activity. A balance must be obtained between xenobiotic efflux in non-tumor cells and bioaccumulation of chemotherapy drugs in cancer cells, in which ABC transporters are essential and natural products play a pivotal role that must be further analyzed. This review summarizes the knowledge concerning the nomenclature and function of ABC-transporters, emphasizing their role in the intestinal barrier cells. In addition, it also focuses on the role of natural products commonly found in food products, e.g., phytochemicals, as modulators of ABC-transporter activity and expression, which are promising nutraceutical molecules to formulate new drug combinations to overcome multidrug resistance.