Riboflavin & Inflammation

Riboflavin, or vitamin B-2, is a water-soluble nutrient belonging to the B complex family. Excess riboflavin from dietary or supplemental sources is readily eliminated in your urine, where it produces a fluorescent yellow-green color. Although your liver retains small amounts of riboflavin, it is not stored for extensive periods in your other tissues. Thus, you need to acquire riboflavin from your diet on a regular basis to benefit from its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.

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According to an April 2009 review in "The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition," riboflavin is converted in your cells to two chemically related compounds called flavin adenine dinucleotide, or FAD, and flavin mononucleotide, or FMN. FAD and FMN serve as cofactors for a variety of enzymes involved in converting other B vitamins -- folic acid, niacin and pyridoxine -- to their active forms and in preventing oxidative stress in your cells. The flavin coenzymes are required by your mitochondria for producing energy in the form or adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, and they are responsible for recycling an important anti-oxidant called glutathione.

Glutathione

In his book, "Staying Healthy with Nutrition," Dr. Elson Haas states that it is difficult to overestimate the significance of glutathione in your overall health. This important compound, composed of cysteine, glutamic acid and glycine, is involved in maintaining the electrochemical balance in your cells, detoxifying environmental toxins, synthesizing and repairing DNA, and neutralizing free radicals. In short, glutathione prevents or repairs the day-to-day damage that causes inflammation in your tissues, and riboflavin is required to maintain adequate glutathione supplies.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Riboflavin's importance in regulating inflammation in your body is exemplified by a study published in the November 1996 issue of "Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases," where glutathione and riboflavin levels were measured in 91 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and in 220 healthy controls. Those patients with active arthritis -- more joint swelling, worse pain scores and elevated serum markers of inflammation -- had lower riboflavin levels and, hence, depressed glutathione production. The paper's authors cited riboflavin deficiency as the driving force behind persistent inflammation in this study's subjects.

Considerations and Recommendation

Riboflavin exerts anti-inflammatory activity in your cells and tissues through its influences on glutathione production. Riboflavin deficiency has been linked to higher disease activity in inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis. Riboflavin is found in a variety of foods, including dairy products, organ meats, oily fish, shellfish, legumes and dark leafy greens. Recommended dietary allowances for riboflavin vary from 300 mcg daily for infants to 1.6 mg for nursing mothers. Ask your doctor if you could benefit from taking additional riboflavin.