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. 2023 Jul 26;43(7):BSR20230160.
doi: 10.1042/BSR20230160.

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

Louise C Kenny  1 ; SCOPE Consortium; Leslie W Brown  2 , Paloma Ortea  2 , Robin Tuytten  2 , Douglas B Kell  3   4
Affiliations

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

Louise C Kenny et al. Biosci Rep. .

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.

Keywords: Ergothioneine; Metabolomics; Oxidative stress; Preeclampsia.

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Conflict of interest statement

Douglas B. Kell is a named inventor on a patent (WO2020221795) describing the production of ergothioneine in yeast. Leslie W. Brown, Paloma Ortea and Robin Tuytten are employees of Metabolomic Diagnostics. Louise C. Kenny and Robin Tuytten are minority shareholders of Metabolomic Diagnostics. Leslie W. Brown, Robin Tuytten, and Louise C. Kenny are named inventors on a Patent Application, which discloses the use of specific proteins and metabolites to predict pre-eclampsia risk, and which is assigned to Metabolomic Diagnostics, i.e., “Methods of predicting pre term birth from pre-eclampsia using metabolic and protein biomarkers”, with publication number WO2019155075A1.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Distribution of ergothioneine levels in the study population
Figure 2
Figure 2. Relationship between ergothioneine level and maternal age
Figure 3
Figure 3. Lack of relationship between ergothioneine level and BMI. Data have been jiggered in the x-axis direction for clarity
Figure 4
Figure 4. Relationship between ergothioneine level and PE category
Data have been jittered in the y-axis direction for clarity
Figure 5
Figure 5. Violin plots based on individual measurements
Violin plots based on individual measurements; — median levels; blue line: 90th centile based on ergothioneine distribution in the control population. Data as in Figure 4 with statistical summary in Table 1.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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