Common supplement may help boost psoriasis treatment

New early research suggests that pantethine, a widely available supplement, could enhance the effects of standard psoriasis therapy. In a small patient study, people saw more improvement when pantethine tablets were added to a medicated skin treatment.

Psoriasis is an inflammatory disorder in which the immune system contributes to red, scaly patches on the skin. The study looked at whether altering the way certain immune cells process nutrients might help reduce that overactivity.

The findings, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, combine lab work, mouse studies and a medical study involving 24 people. Although the human results are encouraging, they are not enough to prove pantethine is an established treatment for psoriasis.

Pantethine is a supplement related to vitamin B5. It is not the same as ordinary vitamin B5, and the effect described in the study depends on a specific chain of chemical reactions.

The researchers examined Vanin proteins, enzymes that help drive chemical reactions in the body. Their results suggested this pathway may affect dendritic cells, which are immune cells that help coordinate inflammatory responses.

In the experiments, Vanin enzymes broke pantethine down into smaller compounds, including vitamin B5. Lower pantethine levels were associated with increased cholesterol production inside dendritic cells and stronger immune activation.

Although cholesterol is usually discussed in connection with heart disease, cells also produce and use it as part of normal biology. In this study, the focus was cholesterol handling inside immune cells rather than cholesterol in the bloodstream.

When pantethine was restored, the inflammatory response was reduced in the experimental systems. That result led the team to test whether the same approach could offer extra benefit to people already receiving psoriasis treatment.

The clinical study ran for 12 weeks. All 24 participants used a topical treatment containing calcipotriene and betamethasone, and half of them also took pantethine tablets.

Those who received the supplement showed greater improvement in skin symptoms. The benefit appeared especially strong in participants who had higher cholesterol levels before treatment started.

Because every participant received the medicated skin therapy, the study only points to an add-on strategy. It does not show that pantethine by itself can control psoriasis or replace existing treatments.

The small sample also leaves important questions about how large or dependable the benefit would be in a broader group of patients. Larger and longer studies will be needed to assess safety, durability and which patients may benefit most.

The immune-cell mechanism is supported more strongly by the laboratory work than by the short human study. A logical next step would be to test whether the same changes in the body explain the improvements seen in patients.

The research points to a possible way of influencing inflammation and irritation through immune-cell metabolism. For now, it offers a promising treatment concept and an early human signal rather than a new standard of care.

For broader related reading on nutrition and health, please see articles about 8 natural supplements that help fight inflammation, and How turmeric can help fight inflammation.

For more information, please see articles about All about vitamin C: why we need it and how to get it, and Scientists find the link between processed foods and chronic diseases.

Source: State Key Laboratory of Biomedical Analysis; Chinese PLA General Hospital; Rockefeller University Press.