The crunchy shells of insects are a nutritious sprinkle, but one that many of us don’t want in our diets.
However, new research suggests that these nutrients may trigger an innate immune response that improves metabolism in mammals.
When researchers at Washington University in St. Louis (WUSL) fed mice the following diet: Kitchen – polysaccharides abundant in insect exoskeletons, crustacean shells, and fungi – caused the animals’ stomachs to swell and trigger a specialized immune response.
The ultimate effect was the production of a unique intestinal enzyme called AMCase, which is required for the activation of cells that regulate chitin digestion and adipose tissue.
Mammals typically don’t produce enzymes powerful enough to break down the bulky polysaccharides they eat, but chitin seems to be an exception, and one with deep evolutionary roots.
Some evidence before the dinosaurs went extinct suggest Ancient mammals once ate insects at a much higher rate than they do today. the study It has also been shown that some mammals have long been adapted to digest chitin.
To this day, many mammals eat insects, and some even eat humans. Not only are insects safe for our species to consume, they also provide important nutrients such as protein and can be harvested sustainably.
Therefore, some scientists think It may take some convincing, but they should be a bigger part of our diet.
Understanding which parts of insects are most nutritious and why could help scientists devise more palatable ways to reap nutritional benefits.
In WUSL’s current study, mice fed chitin along with a high-fat diet ultimately showed improved metabolic measurements compared to mice fed a high-fat diet without chitin.
Similar to previous studies on mice, the researchers found that eating chitin seemed to promote a healthy microbiome in the lower gastrointestinal tract.
To further investigate the mechanism, the researchers generated the AMCase enzyme in some mice, thereby impairing their ability to digest chitin.
The researchers then fed these mice a high-fat diet containing chitin. Compared to other groups, mice without the ability to digest chitin showed resistance to weight gain, even when fed a high-fat diet at the same time.
The researchers Type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2) in these mice – a byproduct of the intestinal immune response triggered by chitin. These cells have recently been Regulation of adipose tissue.
“Digestion of chitin appears to rely primarily on the host’s own chitinases. Stomach cells change their enzyme output through a process called adaptation.” explain Immunologist Stephen Van Dyken.
“However, since bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract are also a source of chitinase, which breaks down chitin, it is surprising that this process is occurring without microbial input.”
However, in the mouse model, it is not the bacteria that produce the enzyme that breaks down chitin. By interfering with the digestion of dietary chitin by mammals, researchers appear to have discovered a potential way to sustain the immune and metabolic effects of this nutrient in the gut.
“There are several ways to inhibit gastric chitinases.” To tell Van Dyken. “Combining these approaches with chitin-containing foods could have enormous metabolic benefits.”
Van Dyken and his colleagues hope to extend their findings to human participants.
This study science.
