According to Dr. Lit-Hung Leung, deficiency in vitamin B5 causes acne. His theory is discussed here. The body does not metabolize fats properly, and hence, diets rich in fat aggravate acne. For metabolizing fat, Coenzyme-A is essential. Pantothenic acid, cysteine and adenosine triphosphate combine to form Coenzyme-A. Among these three, deficiency usually occurs with pantothenic acid. Therefore, if you do not get adequate pantothenic acid producing sufficient amount of Coenzyme-A becomes difficult for your body system. Besides its need for fat metabolization, Coenzyme-A is necessary for hormone synthesis too. Lack of Coenzyme-A causes the system to synthesis hormones first using the available Coenzyme-A, and hence, fat metabolization is left unattended. During puberty, for example, body produces lots of hormones. When the level of Coenzyme-A is not sufficient, as the body uses it for synthesizing hormones, it is not available for metabolizing the fats. Dr. Lit-Hung says that fats accumulate in the oil glands of the skin due to this reason and causes increased levels of sebum. This ultimately results in formation of acne. This doctor’s theory also proposes that hormones are responsible for associating with acne in the sense that they make use of the available Coenzyme-A for their own synthesis process and they do not spare it for metabolizing the fats. It therefore implies that excess hormones deprive the system of the benefit of metabolizing fatty acid due to stealing Coenzyme-A for their own synthesis process.
To compensate the deficiency of Coenzyme-A, one has to take 10 to 20 grams of pantothenic acid a day. Then the adequate level of Coenzyme-A helps the process of fat metabolization. When fats are metabolized, there is no question of their accumulating in the skin glands. Therefore sebum levels do not go up. Only if sebum is present in excess amounts, it can combine with dead skin cells and can clog the hair follicles, resulting in acne. When clogging of hair follicles does not take place, there is nothing else to trigger acne. Pantothenic acid or vitamin B5 is an organic compound. It forms part of the vitamin B complex. Coenzyme-A contains pantothenic acid. Coenzyme-A is also responsible for promoting certain reactions that are essential for growth and well-being. Studies have shown that it helps metabolization of fats and break down of sebum.
The dosage of vitamin B5 for treating acne differs with persons. The usually recommended dosages are 2 gm for the first three days; 10 gm for three months until acne fades off; then weaning off the dosage gradually. You can reduce it by 1 gm per week, for example. As 10 gm of B5 is a mega dose, you can spread it over a day. You can take it four times a day. This can also help in maintaining a constant level of B5 in your body. Taking B5 just before a meal is advisable as gastric problem due to B5 may be less in that case.
Vitamin B5 is also known as Panthenol or Calcium Pantothenate. It is available in the form of pills and powder. Usually each pill is 500 mg. Powder should be taken by dissolving it in water. B5 is available in topical form also. It is a cream and can be applied on the area of skin affected with acne.