Comparative metabolism of [(3)H]psoralen and [ (3)H]isopsoralen by black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes Fabr.) caterpillars.

The comparative fate of tritiated preparations of a linear furanocoumarin (psoralen) and an angular furanocoumarin (isopsoralen) was determined in last-instar caterpillars of the black swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes Fabr.). Oral administration of either furanocoumarin at 5 μg/g is followed by rapid metabolism, primarily through oxidative cleavage of the furan ring, and the metabolites are rapidly excreted. Isopsoralen is, however, metabolized at a somewhat slower rate than is psoralen, and levels of unmetabolized isopsoralen in body tissues of the treated caterpillars are about three-fold higher. These data are compatible with the hypothesis that a reduced detoxification rate accounts at least in part for the susceptibility ofP. polyxenes caterpillars to the deleterious effect of isopsoralens.