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

Ergothioneine, an antioxidant nutraceutical mainly at present derived from the dietary intake of mushrooms, has been suggested as a preventive for pre-eclampsia. We analysed early pregnancy samples for 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) pre-eclampsia. 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 pre-eclampsia, versus 97/432 (22.5%) 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 er-gothioneine may indeed prove protective against pre-eclampsia in humans. An intervention study of some kind now seems warranted.