ergo-log.com

Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "

08.12.2022

Does a hefty dose of ergothioneine make men more fertile?

It's not just men's testosterone levels that are dropping. Men are also becoming increasingly infertile - and if recent meta-data are to be believed, the process of male infertilization is also accelerating worldwide. [Hum Reprod Update. 2022 Nov 15;dmac035.] Supplementation with the amino acid ergothioneine may very well help some of the growing numbers of infertile men, an overlooked animal study suggests.

Ergothioneine
Ergothioneine is found in edible mushrooms, organ meat, black beans and oatmeal, among other things. In cells, ergothioneine increases the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as catalase, glutathione peroxidase and superoxide dismutase.

The more ergothioneine is present in the blood, the lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and the lower the risk of degenerative brain disorders such as Alzheimer's. In addition, there are studies that suggest that supplementation with ergothioneine has a positive effect on stiff and painful joints.

The European EFSA has found the use of ergothioneine in supplements and functional foods safe. [EFSA Journal 2016;14(11):4629.]

Study
In 2019, Dare Ayobami of Bingham University in Nigeria published an animal study in which he studied the effect of the cancer drug cisplatin and ergothioneine. Cisplatin damages the testes and decreases testosterone production as well as sperm quantity and quality. Ayobami wondered if ergothioneine supplementation could prevent this.

In this post we look at the effect of ergothioneine supplementation. We ignore the effect of cisplatin.

Doses
If the lab rats had been adult humans, they would have taken 100 milligrams of ergothioneine daily during the 2 weeks of the trial. This dose is quite high. Supplements usually contain only 2-5 milligrams of ergothioneine per recommended daily intake.

However, it appears that ergothioneine accumulates in certain tissues, such as the bone marrow and possibly also the testes. This means that the effect described in the Nigerian animal study may also occur if organisms ingest a lower dose than 100 milligrams of ergothioneine per day for a period longer than 2 weeks.

Results
Administration of ergothioneine alone to the test animals appears to increase sperm count, but the increase is not significant. However, the effect on the quality of the sperm cells is significant.

Administration of ergothioneine seemed to increase the concentration of testosterone, LH and FSH. However, this increase was not statistically significant.

Source:
IOSR Journal of Pharmacy and Biological Sciences 2019;14(1):6-13.

More:
The disappearance of fruit and vegetables from our diet lowers men's testosterone levels 12.12.2019
Stress and fatigue reduce testosterone just as much as age does 07.08.2017
Lifestyle improvements boost testosterone level in over fifties 01.01.2016

Archives:
Ergothioneine

Fish oil supplements improve testicular health Young men who take a fish oil supplement have larger testes and produce more semen than men who don't take fish oil supplements.	Animal study: pomegranate boosts fertility and testosterone levels in men A not even wildly high dose of pomegranate extract can make men more fertile, and may even boost the concentration of testosterone in their blood.	Onion extract boosts testosterone level too The human stomach often finds it difficult to take Allium cepa juice, which means that straight supplementation is out of the question. But...