Hermetia illucens-Derived Chitosan: A Promising Immunomodulatory Agent for Applications in Biomedical Fields

Chitosan, renowned for its important biological properties, is a valuable pharmaceutical excipient for different therapeutic approaches. Currently, the demand for the biopolymer on the market is growing, and, for this reason, it is important to biologically characterize the biopolymer produced from an alternative source to crustaceans, specifically the bioconverter insect Hermetia illucens. In this work, insect chitosan, yielded via heterogeneous and homogeneous deacetylation from larvae, pupal exuviae, and adults, was studied as an immunomodulatory agent. The inflammatory response of immortalized human keratinocyte cells was induced by Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium lipopolysaccharide. After that, the ability of the biopolymer to reduce the expression of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-8, IL-1α, and TNF-α was tested after 6 and 24 h of treatment. Insect chitosan samples effectively downregulated cytokine expression, with improved activity obtained from heterogeneous chitosan treatments.