There are few reliable treatments of the so-called "age spots" officially known as lipofuscin. Ray has written about the role of iron, PUFA and estrogen in the formation of this skin pigment and has suggested that vitamin E may be one possible treatment. Now we can add vitamin B2 to the list of possible treatments. Interestingly, vitamin B2 also increased levels of catalase, which is one of the enzyme consistently found elevated in centenarians.
Anti-Aging Effect of Riboflavin Via Endogenous Antioxidant in Fruit fly Drosophila Melanogaster. - PubMed - NCBI
"... MEASUREMENTS: The activity of copper-zinc-containing superoxide dismutase (SOD1), manganese containing SOD (SOD2) and catalase (CAT) and lipofuscin (LF) content were determined. RESULTS:
Riboflavin significantly prolonged the lifespan (Log rank χ2=16.677, P<0.001) and increased the reproductive capacity (P<0.01 for day 15; P<0.05 for day 30) of fruit flies by lifelong supplement. The survival time of fruit flies damaged by H2O2 was significantly prolonged (Log rank χ2=15.886, P<0.001), the activity of SOD1 (P<0.01) and CAT (P<0.01) was enhanced, and the accumulation of LF (P<0.01) was inhibited by riboflavin supplement. CONCLUSION: Riboflavin prolonged the lifespan and increased the reproduction of fruit flies through anti-oxidative stress pathway involving enhancing the activity of SOD1 and CAT and inhibiting LF accumulation. Riboflavin deserves more attention for slowing human aging."
Anti-Aging Effect of Riboflavin Via Endogenous Antioxidant in Fruit fly Drosophila Melanogaster. - PubMed - NCBI
"... MEASUREMENTS: The activity of copper-zinc-containing superoxide dismutase (SOD1), manganese containing SOD (SOD2) and catalase (CAT) and lipofuscin (LF) content were determined. RESULTS:
Riboflavin significantly prolonged the lifespan (Log rank χ2=16.677, P<0.001) and increased the reproductive capacity (P<0.01 for day 15; P<0.05 for day 30) of fruit flies by lifelong supplement. The survival time of fruit flies damaged by H2O2 was significantly prolonged (Log rank χ2=15.886, P<0.001), the activity of SOD1 (P<0.01) and CAT (P<0.01) was enhanced, and the accumulation of LF (P<0.01) was inhibited by riboflavin supplement. CONCLUSION: Riboflavin prolonged the lifespan and increased the reproduction of fruit flies through anti-oxidative stress pathway involving enhancing the activity of SOD1 and CAT and inhibiting LF accumulation. Riboflavin deserves more attention for slowing human aging."