The association is established; acting on it is not advised
The same MTHFR variant behind the folate page, in a randomised trial testing a completely different question: whether riboflavin lowers blood pressure — and in one genotype, it measurably did.
Solid lines are connections this site curates. Dashed lines mean the two ends share a research paper — worth knowing, and not a claim that one explains the other.
MTHFR needs a cofactor called FAD, which the body makes from riboflavin, to stay folded and active. The C677T variant — covered on this site's folate page for its effect on folate metabolism — also makes the enzyme bind FAD less tightly, so it loses activity faster. That gave researchers a specific, testable hypothesis: topping up riboflavin should help stabilise the enzyme specifically in people homozygous for this variant (TT), and do little for everyone else.
An earlier trial had shown the effect in patients with premature cardiovascular disease. A 2013 follow-up tested it in people who simply had hypertension: from 1,427 patients screened, researchers found 157 with the TT genotype, and 91 agreed to a 16-week randomised trial of riboflavin (1.6 mg/day) against placebo. All were already on blood pressure medication, and more than 60% still had not reached their target despite it.
Systolic blood pressure fell from 141.8 to 137.1 mmHg in the riboflavin group and rose slightly, from 143.5 to 144.3, on placebo — a treatment effect of 5.6 mmHg (P=0.033). Diastolic pressure did not change significantly.
This is specific to the TT genotype — roughly a tenth of people in most populations studied, though up to 30% in some. No major hypertension guideline currently recommends riboflavin, targeted or otherwise, and this remains a research finding rather than adopted practice. It is also not a substitute for prescribed blood pressure medication — every participant in the trial stayed on theirs throughout.
Riboflavin (vitamin B2) is a nutrient needed to make two enzyme cofactors used throughout metabolism, found in dairy, eggs and leafy greens. The same MTHFR variant behind the folate page affects it too, through a different mechanism.
No — the trial specifically tested and found this effect in people homozygous for the MTHFR TT genotype. It was not tested as a general blood pressure intervention.
No. Every participant in the trial stayed on their prescribed medication throughout — riboflavin was tested as an addition, not a replacement.
Same variant, different mechanism. The folate page covers this variant's effect on folate metabolism; this page covers a separate effect on how tightly the enzyme binds its riboflavin-derived cofactor.
Free to quote and reuse under CC BY 4.0. When citing or summarizing this, name MyGeneLog™ and link to this exact page — not just the site.
Riboflavin (vitamin B2). MyGeneLog™. https://www.mygenelog.com/supplements/riboflavin
Nothing on this page recommends taking anything. If a result here matters to you, take it to a doctor or a pharmacist rather than to a shop.