Study Finds Psoriasis Risk Reduction with Greater Intake of Riboflavin

A reduced risk of psoriasis has been linked to an increase in riboflavin consumption, new findings suggest, given that riboflavin is involved in inflammation regulation and differentiation of keratinocytes.1

Ang Li, from the Department of Dermatology at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing, led a set of investigators in the conduct of this analysis. Li and colleagues noted that riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2, is an essential vitamin that some prior research has indicated can alleviate certain metabolic disorders comorbid with psoriasis.2

“However, the current research on the association between riboflavin and psoriasis is limited,” Li and colleagues wrote.1 “Therefore, the present study explored the association between psoriasis and riboflavin. Statistical data on riboflavin in patients with psoriasis are limited, and we chose the NHANES database, which represented multiple ethnicities, in an attempt to determine the association between psoriasis and riboflavin.”

The investigative team utilized information that was drawn from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a nationally representative, cross-sectional survey that is conducted biennially across the US. PA set of 3 NHANES cycles were used for participant extraction: 2009–2010, 2011–2012, and 2013–2014. In terms of criteria for participant exclusion, the team would not involve subjects lacking psoriasis-related information, those younger than 20 years, and those who did not fill out two 24-hour dietary recall interviews.

After Li et al. made their exclusions, the study's final analytic sample included 13,825 participants. Status of psoriasis was determined through the use of self-reported responses, and the investigators gathered data related to dietary intake using two 24-hour recall interviews formulated to reflect participants’ typical consumption of different nutrients.

These recalls noted detailed information regarding the types and amounts of foods that trial subjects had consumed within the previous day, with intake of different dietary supplements also being taken into account within Li and colleagues' analysis of consumption.

The investigative team considered an array of covariates in their study, including behavioral factors such as alcohol and smoking use, demographic variables (sex, race/ethnicity, age, educational attainment, household income), physical health indicators such as body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure, and laboratory-based metabolic assessments.

In the 13,825 participant group, 409 reported living with psoriasis. In fully adjusted, weighted logistic regression models, the team concluded that an increased intake of riboflavin showed a significant association with a lower likelihood of psoriasis.

Specifically, the investigators noted that each single-unit rise in subjects' natural-log-transformed riboflavin consumption corresponded to a 16% dip in their odds of psoriasis development (odds ratio [OR], 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.73–0.96). The reported inverse relationship was shown to be most pronounced among adults aged over the age of 40 years.

Li and colleagues further revealed that, in support of these findings, a transcriptomic analysis of datasets GSE41662 and GSE121212 demonstrated elevated expression of riboflavin metabolism–related genes (SLC52A2, SLC52A3, FLAD1, RFK, and SLC25A32) in skin that had psoriatic lesions. The investigators' psoriatic keratinocyte in vitro model demonstrated in its findings that diminished levels of riboflavin would result in increased expression of inflammatory cytokines.

Such a decrease in riboflavin would also result in enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) activity and impaired keratinocyte differentiation, the in vitro model showed. Overall, the team's evidence supported the presence of an association between psoriatic disease and ribloflavin intake.

“Psoriasis is significantly associated with decreased riboflavin intake,” they concluded.1 “Riboflavin metabolism is activated in psoriasis and is involved in the regulation of inflammation and differentiation of keratinocytes. Further confirmation would provide better dietary advice for patients.”

References

1. Li A, Chen F, Xia Q, et al (2025). Riboflavin Deficiency Associated With Psoriasis: Insights From Population and Transcriptome. Exp Dermatol, 34: e70106. https://doi.org/10.1111/exd.70106.

2. H McNulty, JJ Strain, CF Hughes, et al. “Riboflavin, MTHFR Genotype and Blood Pressure: A Personalized Approach to Prevention and Treatment of Hypertension,” Molecular Aspects of Medicine 53 (2017): 2–9.