Preparation and biological activities of chitosan from the larvae of housefly, Musca domestica

Many studies have indicated that the larvae of housefly possess excellent nutritional and pharmacological value. In the present study, the chitosan was isolated from the larvae of housefly, Musca domestica. Its antioxidant potencies were examined employing various established in vitro systems, such as 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, reducing power and metal ion chelating activity, and inhibitory effects against human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) and mouse sarcoma-180 (S-180) tumor cells were also tested. The results showed that the chitosan had stronger scavenging activity on DPPH radical than ascorbic acid. The half effective concentration on DPPH radical was approximately 0.373 mg/mL. The chitosan showed efficient reducing power and considerable ferrous ions chelating potency in this study. Moreover, chitosan from housefly larvae also exhibited significant antitumor activity against HeLa and S-180 tumor cell lines in vitro. The inhibitory effects of showed a dose-dependent manner and reached 50.8%, 52.9% at 1 mg/mL, respectively. These in vitro results suggested that the chitosan from the larvae of housefly could be effectively used as a natural antioxidant to protect the human body from free radicals and retard the progress of many chronic diseases. Furthermore, the chitosan with antitumor activity from the larvae of housefly might provide useful information for the development of antitumor drugs.