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Biotin deficiency rarely, if ever, occurs in healthy individuals who consume a regular diet unless they are being treated either with certain anticonvulsants or with broad-spectrum antibiotics.

The extremely low prevalence of biotin deficiency is probably the result of a combination of factors.

First, the daily requirement for biotin is low (approximately 150-300 �g/d).

Second, almost all foods contain significant quantities of biotin, and many widely consumed foods are relatively rich in biotin.

Third, the intestinal flora* synthesizes significant quantities of biotin, and at least a portion of that biotin is believed to be absorbed into the bloodstream.

Fourth, a significant fraction of the body's biotin is recycled; that is, a given molecule of biotin may be repeatedly used before it is eventually lost from the body in the feces or urine.

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Biotin deficiency

Regardless of the etiology of biotin deficiency (see Causes), clinical manifestations are essentially the same.

However, the rates of symptom development and the sequence in which symptoms appear can greatly differ.

Clinical manifestations are confined to the intestinal tract, skin, hair, CNS, and peripheral nervous system.

The mechanism responsible for the development of the manifestations has not been established; however, altered fatty acid synthesis (due to deficient activity of the biotin-containing enzyme ACC) may play an important role.


Adhisivam et al (2007) reported acute-onset quadriplegia in a 10-year-old boy associated with basal ganglia lesions due to biotin deficiency.2

The history included prolonged raw egg consumption as the basis for the biotin deficiency.

Biotin treatment resulted in remarkable recovery.

Given the critical biochemical pathways affected by biotin deficiency, the involvement of many organs could reasonably be expected; however, this is not the case, and few organs are involved.

Based on observations in patients with this inborn error of metabolism, biotin deficiency can have a very serious, even fatal, outcome if it is allowed to progress without treatment.

However, to the author's knowledge, no deaths due to biotin deficiency have been reported.

Biotinidase could possess an important regulatory function in chromatin/DNA function.

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Posts: 4881 | From Middlesex County, NJ | Registered: Jul 2006  |  IP: Logged | 

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Originally posted by pamoisondelune:

Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) also destroys Biotin.

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Posts: 4881 | From Middlesex County, NJ | Registered: Jul 2006  |  IP: Logged |