M.M.O. Cabral et al. / Fitoterapia 79 (2008) 59–63
63
4. Conclusions
Burchellin is rapidly metabolized in the hemolymph of R. prolixus. Several ways of degradation can be proposed.
The elimination of the allyl group may occur as the first step, but degradation takes place, principally, at the furan ring
and produces one major metabolite, identified as piperonyl alcohol. 3 is formed in the early steps of burchellin
degradation, accumulates in the hemolymph and may be directly involved in the inhibition of urine secretion. This
hypothesis is now being investigated looking for bioactivity of piperonyl alcohol itself and of a series of derivatives.
Interestingly, piperonal (4) (Fig. 2) has been reported to be a home repellent of louse [22]. More recently, Harmatha and
Nawrot described the insect feeding deterrent activity of lignans containing a piperonyl structure moiety, and of some
methylenedioxy-containing simple phenolics, including piperonal [23]. The authors concluded that, although the simple
phenolics showed low activities as feeding deterrents, the presence of a piperonyl moiety clearly resulted in increased
antifeedant activity of the lignans. Accordingly, our results also implicate the piperonyl moiety in biological activity on
insects. Further work is needed to understand the involvement of piperonyl-containing structures on physiological
processes in insects.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to José Carlos Ribeiro de Albuquerque and Eliane Gonçalves de Carvalho of the Analytical Centrum
of Far-Manguinhos (FIOCRUZ-RJ) for technical assistance. This research was supported by grants from CNPq,
CAPES, FAPERJ, and DAAD.
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