Consumption of edible insects has been widely suggested as an environmentally sustainable substitute for meat to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, the novel research field for edible insects relies on the content of bioactive ingredients and on the ability to induce a functional effect in humans. The goal of this manuscript is to review the available body of evidence on the properties of edible insects in modulating oxidative and inflammatory stress, platelet aggregation, lipid and glucose metabolism and weight control. A search for literature investigating the functional role of edible insects was carried out in the PubMed database using specific keywords. A total of 55 studies, meeting inclusion criteria after screening, were divided on the basis of the experimental approach: in vitro studies, cellular models/ex vivo studies or in vivo studies. In the majority of the studies, insects demonstrated the ability to reduce oxidative stress, modulate antioxidant status, restore the impaired activity of antioxidant enzymes and reduce markers of oxidative damage. Edible insects displayed anti-inflammatory activity reducing cytokines and modulating specific transcription factors. Results from animal studies suggest that edible insects can modulate lipid and glucose metabolism. The limited number of studies focused on the assessment of anti-coagulation activity of edible insects makes it difficult to draw conclusions. More evidence from dietary intervention studies in humans is needed to support the promising evidence from in vitro and animal models about the functional role of edible insect consumption.

Dietary intake of long-chain n-3 PUFA has been reported to decrease several markers of lymphocyte activation and modulate monocyte susceptibility to apoptosis. However, most human studies examined the combined effect of DHA and EPA using relatively high daily amounts of n-3 PUFA. The present study investigated the effects of increasing doses of DHA added to the regular diet of human healthy volunteers on lymphocyte response to tetradecanoylphorbol acetate plus ionomycin activation, and on monocyte apoptosis induced by oxidized LDL. Eight subjects were supplemented with increasing daily doses of DHA (200, 400, 800, 1600 mg) in a TAG form containing DHA as the only PUFA, for 2 weeks each dose. DHA intake dose-dependently increased the proportion of DHA in mononuclear cell phospholipids, the augmentation being significant after 400 mg DHA/d. The tetradecanoylphorbol acetate plus ionomycin-stimulated IL-2 mRNA level started to increase after ingestion of 400 mg DHA/d, with a maximum after 800 mg intake, and was positively correlated (P < 0·003) with DHA enrichment in cell phospholipids. The treatment of monocytes by oxidized LDL before DHA supplementation drastically reduced mitochondrial membrane potential as compared with native LDL treatment. Oxidized LDL apoptotic effect was significantly attenuated after 400 mg DHA/d and the protective effect was maintained throughout the experiment, although to a lesser extent at higher doses. The present results show that supplementation of the human diet with low DHA dosages improves lymphocyte activability. It also increases monocyte resistance to oxidized LDL-induced apoptosis, which may be beneficial in the prevention of atherosclerosis.

Delivery methods for commercial scale applications must be simple, inexpensive and cost-effective. The use of live vectors such as fowl adenoviruses (FAV) has previously been proven successful for the effective oral delivery of chicken interferon gamma to broilers under commercial growing conditions. FAV can be delivered via food or water or can be used as a spray. The ability of cytokines to modulate immune responses to vaccines and their therapeutic and growth promoting capability makes them an important component in future health management strategies for poultry. In this report, we describe the development of recombinant FAV vectors expressing chicken interleukin-2 (ChIL-2) and chicken myelomonocytic growth factor(cMGF). The ChIL-2 and cMGF genes were cloned into the right hand terminal region of FAV serotype 8, under the control of the adenovirus major late promoter. The in vitro biological activity of FAV-ChIL-2 and FAV-cMGF was comparable to that of the corresponding recombinant proteins expressed in prokaryotic (E. coli) and eukaryotic (COS cell) systems. These constructs may be particularly useful as therapeutics formucosal infections.

The high affinity interleukin-2 receptor is composed of three cell surface subunits, IL-2Rα, IL-2Rβ, and IL-2Rγ. Functional forms of the IL-2 receptor exist, however, that enlist only two of the three subunits. On activated T-cells, the α- and β-subunits combine as a preformed heterodimer (the pseudo-high affinity receptor) that serves to capture IL-2. On a subpopulation of natural killer cells, the β- and γ-subunits interact in a ligand-dependent manner to form the intermediate affinity receptor site. Previously, we have demonstrated the feasibility of employing coiled-coil molecular recognition for the solution assembly of a heteromeric IL-2 receptor complex. In that study, although the receptor was functional, the coiled-coil complex was a trimer rather than the desired heterodimer. We have now redesigned the hydrophobic heptad sequences of the coiled-coils to generate soluble forms of both the pseudo-high affinity and the intermediate affinity heterodimeric IL-2 receptors. The properties of these complexes were examined and their relevance to the physiological IL-2 receptor mechanism is discussed.