June 24, 2015

Got acne? Lay off the B12

by University of California, Los Angeles

Got acne? Lay off the B12
New research reports that vitamin B12 supplements can alter the metabolic activity of human skin bacteria, driving Propionibacterium acnes to overproduce an inflammatory compound that leads to acne. Credit: V. Altounian/Science Translational Medicine

Vitamin B12 tweaks how genes behave in the facial bacteria of some people who normally enjoy clear skin. The activity changes of the facial bacteria promote inflammation and lead to pimples.

By shedding light on one mechanism behind B12's role in acne, the UCLA finding may identify drug targets that lead to new treatments for acne.

Huiying Li, an assistant professor of molecular and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, and Dr. Noah Craft, a dermatologist at LA BioMed at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, are available for interviews.

Science Translational Medicine publishes the findings in its June 24 edition.

More information: Vitamin B12 modulates the transcriptome of the skin microbiota in acne pathogenesis, stm.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/ … scitranslmed.aab2009

Journal information: Science Translational Medicine
Provided by University of California, Los Angeles
Citation: Got acne? Lay off the B12 (2015, June 24) retrieved 4 May 2024 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2015-06-acne-b12.html
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