Relationship between the concentration of ergothioneine in plasma and the likelihood of developing pre-eclampsia

Louise C. Kenny, Leslie W. Brown, Paloma Ortea, Robin Tuytten, Douglas B. Kell
In: Bioscience Reports · 2023 · vol. 43(7) · doi:10.1042/bsr20230160 · PMID:37278746 · W4379508867
article OA: gold CC0 ⤵ 1 in-corpus citation
📄 Open PDF View on OpenAlex View on PubMed View at publisher

Abstract

Ergothioneine, an antioxidant nutraceutical mainly at present derived from the dietary intake of mushrooms, has been suggested as a preventive for pre-eclampsia (PE). We analysed early pregnancy samples from a cohort of 432 first time mothers as part of the Screening for Endpoints in Pregnancy (SCOPE, European branch) project to determine the concentration of ergothioneine in their plasma. There was a weak association between the ergothioneine levels and maternal age but none for BMI. Of these 432 women, 97 went on to develop pre-term (23) or term (74) PE. If a threshold was set at the 90th percentile of the reference range in the control population (≥462 ng/ml), only one of these 97 women (1%) developed PE, versus 96/397 (24.2%) whose ergothioneine level was below this threshold. One possible interpretation of these findings, consistent with previous experiments in a reduced uterine perfusion model in rats, is that ergothioneine may indeed prove protective against PE in humans. An intervention study of some kind now seems warranted.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

Citation neighborhood (sparse)

Too few in-corpus citations on either side for a chart; here are the lists.

Cites (1)

Cited by (1)

References (83)

Cited by (1)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK