Biotin deficiency | |
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Biotin | |
Specialty | Endocrinology |
Biotin deficiency is a nutritional disorder which can become serious, even fatal, if allowed to progress untreated. It can occur in people of any age, ancestry, or of either sex. Biotin is part of the B vitamin family. Biotin deficiency rarely occurs among healthy people because the daily requirement of biotin is low, many foods provide adequate amounts of it, intestinal bacteria synthesize small amounts of it, and the body effectively scavenges and recycles it in the kidneys during production of urine.
Genetic disorders such as multiple carboxylase deficiency (MCD) (which includes biotinidase deficiency and holocarboxylase synthetase deficiency)[1] can also lead to inborn or late-onset forms of biotin deficiency.[2] In all cases – dietary, genetic, or otherwise – supplementation with biotin is the primary (and usually only)[3] method of treatment.[1][4] The prognosis for congenital MCD is good if biotin supplementation is begun quickly after birth and carried on throughout the patients life.[5]
The average dietary intake of biotin ranges between 35 and 70 micrograms/day in the western population.[2]
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