Vitamin B12 may help improve brain, blood and nerve function but it can also cause a person to breakout.
A study conducted by UCLA researchers showed that vitamin B12 alters the behavior of bacteria that causes acne, resulting in acne breakouts. The recent findings, which appeared on June 24 in the journal Science Translational medicine, could help drug companies formulate medications to treat skin breakouts.
Most people sometimes use B12 supplements to improve memory function and prevent anemia. However, according to study author Huiying Li, there exist several reports on how the vitamin can contribute to acne development.
"So it's exciting that we found that the potential link between B12 and acne is through the skin bacteria," she said in a report from The Verge.
For the study, researchers looked into skin bacteria from people who are prone to breakouts and those who have clear skin.
Researchers investigated the gene expression of the bacteria Propionibacterium acnes—the most common skin bacteria—to hopefully figure out why some people are prone to their effects while others can stay resistant.
What the study found was that vitamin B12 can alter the gene expression of the microbe, which will lead to inflammation that causes acne. Li and her team confirmed the theory by injecting vitamin B12 to pimple-free people and found that gene expression in the bacteria was blocked.
Furthermore, researchers also performed experiments by growing P. acnes in labs. When vitamin B12 was added to the bacteria, they started producing compounds known as porphyrins, which promote inflammation, which is an important step to acne development, according to Li.
Although Li and the team found a link between the vitamin and acne development, it remains inconclusive and researchers warn people not to make big changes to their dietary habits immediately.
"Vitamin B12 is essential to us," Li said, adding that people should not misinterpret their research findings and start thinking that the vitamin is bad.
