Common vitamin B5 supplement may help fight psoriasis, study finds

A widely sold supplement derived from vitamin B5, called pantethine, may offer a new approach to treating psoriasis, according to research from China. The scientists found it calmed immune cells involved in autoimmune inflammation, which prevented psoriasis from developing in mice and improved symptoms in a small human clinical trial.

The findings were published October 27 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. The researchers focused on dendritic cells, immune cells that coordinate the body's defenses. They found unusually high levels of enzymes called Vanins in dendritic cells from people with psoriasis and several other autoimmune diseases.

Reducing Vanin levels made dendritic cells less active, and a drug designed to inhibit Vanins prevented psoriasis in mice. The enzymes convert pantethine into vitamin B5, which cells need for energy. Pantethine is already sold as a supplement and is commonly used to help lower blood cholesterol.