Affiliations 

  • 1 Perdana University School of Liberal Arts, Science and Technology (PUScLST), Wisma Chase Perdana, Changkat Semantan, Damansara Heights, 50490 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Electronic address: tzeyan.lee@perdanauniversity.edu.my
  • 2 Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 3 Faculty of Medicine, Nursing, and Health Sciences, SEGi University, Kota Damansara, 47810 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 4 School of Biosciences, Taylor's University, No. 1, Jalan Taylor's, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 5 Department of Human Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 6 Sunway Medical Centre, 47500 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
  • 7 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia
Nutr Res, 2023 Nov;119:1-20.
PMID: 37708600 DOI: 10.1016/j.nutres.2023.08.010

Abstract

Riboflavin is a precursor of the essential coenzymes flavin mononucleotide and flavin adenine dinucleotide. Both possess antioxidant properties and are involved in oxidation-reduction reactions, which have a significant impact on energy metabolism. Also, the coenzymes participate in metabolism of pyridoxine, niacin, folate, and iron. Humans must obtain riboflavin through their daily diet because of the lack of programmed enzymatic machineries for de novo riboflavin synthesis. Because of its physiological nature and fast elimination from the human body when in excess, riboflavin consumed is unlikely to induce any negative effects or develop toxicity in humans. The use of riboflavin in pharmaceutical and clinical contexts has been previously explored, including for preventing and treating oxidative stress and reperfusion oxidative damage, creating synergistic compounds to mitigate colorectal cancer, modulating blood pressure, improving diabetes mellitus comorbidities, as well as neuroprotective agents and potent photosensitizer in killing bloodborne pathogens. Thus, the goal of this review is to provide a comprehensive understanding of riboflavin's biological applications in medicine, key considerations of riboflavin safety and toxicity, and a brief overview on the nanoencapsulation of riboflavin for various functions including the treatment of a range of diseases, photodynamic therapy, and cellular imaging.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.