Effect of Chitin and Ascorbic Acid on Dietary Insect Iron Absorption (INSECTE)

The Effect of Chitin and Ascorbic Acid on Dietary Iron Absorption From Tenebrio Molitor Larvae in Young Women.

Iron is involved in many vital metabolic processes such as oxygen transport, electron transport in cells, DNA synthesis and repair, and muscle metabolism. However, iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia continue to affect many people, particularly preschool children (<5 years), adolescents, and pregnant and non-pregnant women of childbearing age. Iron deficiency is characterized by a lack of total iron stores in the body, which is mainly caused by insufficient dietary iron intake, physiologically increased iron requirements, poor intestinal iron absorption, or chronic blood loss. Animal foods are important sources of highly bioavailable iron in the human diet. Meeting human nutritional needs for the rapidly increasing world population while targeting food production within the planetary boundaries will require the identification of sustainable iron sources, such as edible insects. A previous iron absorption study showed that insect iron is absorbed moderately well. The present study will examine if and to which extent chitin, a polysaccharide within the insect biomass, inhibits iron absorption. In addition, the enhancing iron absorption of ascorbic acid on iron absorption from Tenebrio molitor larvae will be studied. This knowledge can support to optimize the composition of an insect-based meal to increase its iron absorption.

To distinguish iron absorption from insect biomass from other sources, insects are labeled with stable iron isotopes (Fe-57, Fe-58, Fe-54) and iron absorption in the blood is measured.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Iron Deficiency (Without Anemia)
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Meal A; Other: Meal B; Other: Meal C; Other: Meal D; Other: Meal E; Other: Meal F; Other: Meal G

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 25
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Diego Moretti, Prof.; Phone Number: +41 44 512 09 20; Email: diego.moretti@ffhs.ch

Study Locations

• Switzerland
  • ZH
    • Zürich, ZH, Switzerland, 8005
      • Recruiting
      • ETH Zurich
      • Contact: Phone Number: 0445120920; Email: diego.moretti@ffhs.ch
      • Contact: Diego Moretti

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Female aged between 18-45 years
• Normal BMI (18.5 - 24.9 kg/m2)
• Body weight < 70 kg
• Low iron status (being in the lower half of the serum ferritin distribution at screening)

Exclusion Criteria:

• Anaemia (Hb < 12 g/dL)
• Inflammation (CRP > 5.0 mg/L)
• Pregnancy or intention to become pregnant during the study or within 30 days after the discontinuation of the study intervention
• Lactating up to 6 weeks before the study initiation
• Chronic digestive, renal and/or metabolic diseases
• Antibiotics in the last 4 weeks prior to the study and during the study
• Mineral and vitamin supplementation in the last 2 weeks prior to the study and during the course of the study
• Chronic medication intake (except for oral contraceptives)
• Blood transfusion, blood donation or significant blood loss (accident, surgery) over the past 4 months
• Earlier participation in a study using stable isotopes or in any clinical study within the last 30 days
• Food allergies, especially known hypersensitivity to crustacea, dust mites, sea food, gluten, milk, or eggs
• Cigarette smoking (> 1 cigarette per day)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

7

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: T.molitor native chitin; Vegetable soup prepared with dried 57-Fe intrinsically labeled T.molitor	Other: Meal A; Vegetable soup prepared with dried intrinsically labeled T.molitor (isotopic iron 57, native chitin content = 1g)
Experimental: T.molitor high chitin level; Vegetable soup prepared with dried 57-Fe intrinsically labeled T.molitor + 2g chitin of shrimp origin	Other: Meal B; Vegetable soup prepared with dried intrinsically labeled T.molitor (isotopic iron 57) + 2g of extrinsically added chitin
Experimental: T.molitor + Ascorbic Acid; Vegetable soup prepared with dried 57-Fe intrinsically labeled T.molitor + Ascorbic acid (4:1 ascorbic acid to iron molar ratio)	Other: Meal C; Vegetable soup prepared with dried intrinsically labeled T.molitor (isotopic iron 57) + ascorbic acid (4:1 ascorbic acid to iron molar ratio)
Experimental: Control meal; Vegetable soup with addition of labelled FeSO4 (isotope iron 58)	Other: Meal D; Vegetable soup without insects with extrinsic addition of FeSO4 (isotopic iron 58)
Experimental: Control meal low chitin; Vegetable soup with addition of labelled FeSO4 (isotope iron 58) + 1g chitin of shrimp origin	Other: Meal E; Vegetable soup without insects with extrinsic addition of FeSO4 (isotopic iron 58) + 1g of extrinsically added chitin
Experimental: Control meal high chitin; Vegetable soup with addition of labelled FeSO4 (isotope iron 58) + 3g chitin of shrimp origin	Other: Meal F; Vegetable soup without insects with extrinsic addition of FeSO4 (isotopic iron 58) + 3g of extrinsically added chitin
Experimental: Control meal + Ascorbic Acid; Vegetable soup with addition of labelled FeSO4 (isotope iron 54) + Ascorbic acid (4:1 ascorbic acid to iron molar ratio)	Other: Meal G; Vegetable soup without insects with extrinsic addition of FeSO4 (isotopic iron 54) + ascorbic acid (4:1 ascorbic acid to iron molar ratio)

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Fractional iron absorption	Fractional iron absorption will be calculated based on the shift in iron isotope ratio in red blood cells 14 to 16 days post administration of the isotopically labelled meals. Calculation of fractional iron absorption will take into account the principles of isotope dilution and the fact that iron isotopic labels are not monoisotopic.	screening (-1), 16th, 32nd,47th day of the study

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Hemoglobin (Hb)	Iron status marker	screening (-1), 16th, 32nd, 47th day of the study
Serum Ferritin (SF)	Iron status marker	screening (-1), 16th, 32nd, 47th day of the study
Serum Transferrin Receptor (sTfR)	Iron status marker	screening (-1), 47th day of the study
C-Reactive Protein (CRP)	Inflammation status	screening (-1), 16th, 32nd, 47th day of the study
alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP)	Inflammation status	screening (-1), 47th day of the study
Retinol binding Protein (RBP)	Inflammation status	screening (-1), 47th day of the study

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Swiss Distance University of Applied Sciences
• Collaborators: Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Diego Moretti, Prof., Fernfachhochschule Schweiz

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 6, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 30, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 6, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 6, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): February 12, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 31, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 27, 2025
• Last Verified: May 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: iron deficiency; ascorbic acid; iron bioavailability; chitin; Tenebrio molitor; edible insects
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Metabolic Diseases; Hematologic Diseases; Anemia; Iron Metabolism Disorders; Anemia, Hypochromic; Iron Deficiencies; Anemia, Iron-Deficiency
• Other Study ID Numbers: INSECTE_01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No