Event Details
Ergothioneine: The Long Neglected Nutrient for Healthy Ageing
The damage caused by oxygen radicals and other “reactive oxygen species” (ROS) plays a significant role in the onset of age-related diseases, notably dementia. However, efforts to treat or prevent these diseases with high doses of antioxidants, such as vitamin E, have proven unsuccessful. Ergothioneine (ET), a diet-derived thiol and thione, possesses antioxidant properties. Low blood levels of ET are a risk factor for the development of age-related diseases, including neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, frailty, ocular diseases, and pre-eclampsia. Professor Barry Halliwell’s team has identified “risk levels” of plasma ET in humans, below which there is an increased risk of disease. The question remains whether low ET levels predispose individuals to age-related diseases or if this is a spurious correlation. Evidence suggests the former; for instance, ET has been shown to mitigate neurodegeneration in models of stroke, Parkinson’s, and Alzheimer’s diseases, and pilot human clinical trials indicate potential benefits. Nevertheless, ergothioneine’s role extends beyond that of an antioxidant; its neuroprotective mechanisms are multifactorial and likely complex.
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