Cubebin and semisynthetic dibenzyl butyrolactone derivatives: Biological activities

Lignans are a group of secondary metabolites with a wide variety of chemical structures, formed by coupling two phenylpropanoid units.  Currently, there is great interest in lignan due to the wide range of biological activities this class of compounds has demonstrated. This review describes the biological activities of cubebin and semi-synthetic derivatives, focusing primarily on Piper cubeba and Zantoxyllum naranjillo. The main biological activities reported were: Anti-inflammatory, antitumor, action in erectile dysfunction, trypanocidal, anti-Leishmania and antimicrobial. In this way, it is possible to conclude that cubebin and its derivatives have shown high capacity to become new bioactive molecules obtained by semi-sinthesys, useful to develop medicines for several pathologies, presenting efficacy, toxicology and quality for human use.   Key words: lignans; cubebin, semisynthetic derivatives; biological activities, Piper cubeba, Piperaceae, Zantoxyllum naranjillo, Rutaceae.