The homologous ergothioneine may become the next anti-aging dark horse

As the NMN craze recedes, another anti-aging substance called ergothioneine is coming into its own. It is the strongest natural antioxidant found in the human body, a small molecule of amino acids, originally discovered in 1909 in the fungus Claviceps purpurea, because of its unique transporter protein absorption, as well as direct access to the mitochondria and the cell nucleus of the internal anti-aging mechanism, has been very much sought after by anti-aging scientists around the world and research, the most representative of which is the National University of Singapore's Barry Halliwell, who has spent his life researching ergothioneine, after the New Crown epidemic. The most representative is Barry Halliwell of the National University of Singapore, who has spent his life researching ergothioneine, and published a document ‘Repairing effect of ergothioneine on the sequelae of new crowns’ after the new crown epidemic. Up to now, ergothioneine has more than 10,000 patents and multiple human clinical trials around the world, and its safety, anti-aging mechanism, and multi-faceted efficacy have all been confirmed by the scientific community, and is even known as the ‘longevity vitamin’. ??

Ergothioneine is an anti-aging substance that is derived from the same source as food, and in cosmetics, it has anti-aging, whitening, blemish reduction, pore shrinkage, anti-inflammatory, and restorative effects, and it was first introduced into the consumer's field of vision by Estee Lauder and Elizabeth Arden's high-end skincare products, which use ergothioneine as the most important antioxidant. There was also a battle between Estee Lauder and Oxis Internatioal over Ergothioneine's mitochondrial protection patents, which took many years and was finally settled in 2010.

Ergothioneine has a very wide range of research and applications in nutraceuticals and food products, with anti-aging, life extension, oral beauty, brain cognition enhancement, eye protection, reproductive health enhancement, liver protection, repair of post-exercise injuries, mitochondrial ATP enhancement, pet nutrition, and preservation of freshness. Makoto Katsube, Yukio Kato and others, scholars at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Kanazawa University, Japan, found that mice supplemented with ergothioneine at 4-5 mg/kg body weight per day increased their median age of survival by 16%, and their average age of survival by an even greater 21%. In addition to prolonging life span, oral administration of ergothioneine improved the frailty of aged mice; the mice had improved kidney and liver function, as well as better motor and cognitive abilities than the control group. In addition, the mice in the experimental group showed a significant reversal of the declining trend in SIRT6 protein levels, which further confirmed the significant effect of ergothioneine in promoting organism health and enhancing immunity.

At the same time, ergothioneine can also increase telomerase activity, protect and extend the length of telomeres, thus promoting cellular health and longevity. It is well known that telomere length is closely related to aging and age-related diseases. 2022 study by Priscilla Samuel et al. found that treatment of cells with 0.04, 0.1, 0.3 or 1.0 mg/ml ergothioneine for 8 weeks under oxidative conditions significantly prolonged the median telomere length and the twentieth-percentile telomere length, and reduced the number of short telomeres (<3 kilobase pairs) and the number of short telomeres (<3 kilobase pairs). The percentage of short telomeres (<3 kbp) was also significantly different from the ‘reduction in telomere shortening’. Overall, ergothioneine was shown to be beneficial in reducing telomere shortening and preserving telomere length under conditions of oxidative stress.

It has also been found that ergothioneine plays an important role in the prevention of diseases in old age, preventing and controlling respiratory diseases, neurological diseases, digestive diseases, cardiovascular diseases, endocrine diseases, eye diseases (dry eye, glaucoma) and skin diseases in old age, and helping to prolong the life span of the elderly.

Numerous tests have shown that ergothioneine not only has similar functions with NMN, such as promoting energy metabolism, improving body functions, etc., but ergothioneine performs better and is safer in terms of anti-aging and anti-oxidation. After sufficient toxicological and safety tests, ergothioneine has been approved as a food ingredient in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan and other countries, and on 17th May, 2024, the Chinese Health Commission also formally accepted the application of ergothioneine as a new food ingredient.

In recent years, the application of ergothioneine in food, healthcare products, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and other fields has gradually expanded. According to Early Data, the ergothioneine in oral beauty market grew by 6,980% in 2023, demonstrating a huge market potential. It is expected that in the next few years, with the improvement of the production process, cost reduction, especially the breakthrough of the regulatory ‘restrictions’, cosmetics and food homologous ergothioneine ingredient, most likely will become the next ‘anti-aging dark horse’!