title: Clinical and biochemical correlates of serum L-ergothioneine concentrations in community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite the increasing interest towards the biological role of L-ergothioneine, little is known about the serum concentrations of this unusual aminothiol in older adults. We addressed this issue in a representative sample of community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Body mass index, estimated glomerular filtration rate, serum concentrations of L-ergothioneine, taurine, homocysteine, cysteine, glutathione, cysteinylglycine, and glutamylcysteine were evaluated in 439 subjects (age 55-85 years) randomly selected from the Hunter Community Study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Median L-ergothioneine concentration in the entire cohort was 1.01 IQR 0.78-1.33 µmol/L. Concentrations were not affected by gender (P = 0.41) or by presence of chronic medical conditions (P = 0.15). By considering only healthy subjects, we defined a reference interval for L-ergothioneine serum concentrations from 0.36 (90% CI 0.31-0.44) to 3.08 (90% CI 2.45-3.76) µmol/L. Using stepwise multiple linear regression analysis L-ergothioneine was negatively correlated with age (rpartial = -0.15; P = 0.0018) and with glutamylcysteine concentrations (rpartial = -0.13; P = 0.0063).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A thorough analysis of serum L-ergothioneine concentrations was performed in a large group of community-dwelling middle-aged and older adults. Reference intervals were established. Age and glutamylcysteine were independently negatively associated with L-ergothioneine serum concentration.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sotgia
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zinellu
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.
authors.forename: Arduino A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Mangoni
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianfranco
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pintus
authors.affiliation: Level 3 Hunter Medical Research Institute, School of Medicine & Public Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Attia
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy.
authors.forename: Ciriaco
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Carru
authors.affiliation: Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McEvoy
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004880:Ergothioneine / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D062486:Public Health Surveillance; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D004880:Ergothioneine