Skin

Skin, the largest, most exposed organ of the body, provides a protective interface between humans and the environment. While folate deficiency has been extensively documented by analysis of human plasma, folate status within the skin has not been widely investigated. Nevertheless, inefficient delivery of micronutrients to the skin and photolysis of folate argue that documented local folate deficiencies will be present in the skin.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting approximately 2% of the population worldwide. As rapid skin turnover occurs in psoriasis, folate is consumed excessively. Psoriasis patients have been found to have lower folate and, subsequently, higher homocysteine levels than normal controls. This finding points to low tissue folate as a cause of high plasma homocysteine in psoriasis patients.

The micronutrient supply of folate especially in the upper dermis, poses a particular challenge. Therefore providing the missing compound directly to the affected part of the skin might be helpful to overcome the local deficiency. Surprisingly the reduced forms of Folate (L-methylfolate, L-formylfolate) are able to penetrate the skin. A topical treatment using a cream is promising and might be an alternative/additional option to the existing treatments of inflammatory skin disorders.

Aprofol AG - Folates, what about availability in Skin?