The ¹³C NMR spectrum (Table 1) showed a signal at 162.29 ppm that corresponds to the carbonyl carbon of the urea, in the same way, the ¹H NMR spectrum showed a signal at 5.7 ppm assigned to the –NH₂ of urea; both values very similar to those reported in Spectral Data Base System for Organic Compounds

The six signals observed between 122 and 110 ppm in the ¹³C spectrum were assigned to carbons of a benzene ring two of them being quaternary, which is in agreement with that reported by Marcano and Hasegawa ⁽¹¹⁾ and Carey ⁽¹²⁾. The signals assigned to the benzene carbons are in concordance with the signals observed in the ¹H NMR spectrum between 7.7 and 6.9 ppm and correspond to the zone of the aromatic protons and agree with that cited by Marcano and Hasegawa ⁽¹¹⁾ and Carey ⁽¹²⁾. In the same way, the protons coupling patron without doubt strongly suggest that the benzene is ortho-substituted ⁽¹³⁾.

To the best of our knowledge there are no reports of urinary elimination of benzene orhto-substituted in rats that ingest flavonoids which are compounds abundant in B. megalandra leaves ⁽⁴⁾.

Due to the fact that the compound was only partially purified it was not possible to know the exact substituents. However, the benzene ortho-substituted was not present in the urine of the control rats nor in the plant extract. In consequence it is possible to suggest that it is the product of the metabolism of a compound presents in the plant, possible a flavonoid; at present we are not able to suggest a metabolic pathway to its production.

The urinary elimination of a benzene ortho-substituted, during the ingestion of B. megalandra leaves extract, is evidence of the intestinal absorption of a secondary metabolite present in the plant.

The administration of the plant extract produces a small decrease, but significant, in the glycaemia (Table 2) that might be explained by:

a. Decrease in gluconeogenic and glucose-6-phosphatase activity of the liver ⁽¹⁴⁾.

b. Decrease in the glucose intestinal absorption by inhibition of the sodium-glucose cotransporter (SGLT) _(15,16).

c. Renal glycosuria reported in the present paper (see below).

The increase in urinary elimination of glucose (Table 2) in the presence of a discrete decrease in glycaemia is a clear indication that there is a renal glycosuria, which might be due to the effects of the flavonoids, present in the plant extract, that were absorbed by the intestine and by the blood reaching the kidney where they inhibit the SGLT as they do in the intestine ^(14,15).

The renal glycosuria, produced during the ingestion of B. megalandra leaves extract, reported in this paper is indirect evidence of the intestinal absorption of the flavonoid present in B. megalandra leaves extract.

Acknowledgments: We thank Dr. Frank Pennington for his advice and correction of the manuscript. This paper was carried out thanks to the grant: PG-03-7345-208 from The Consejo de Desarrollo Científico y Humanístico of the Universidad Central de Venezuela.