Recent advances in methods for assessment of biotin status

Biotin serves as a covalently bound coenzyme fbr various carboxylases in mammals . De且ciency ofthis vitamin leads to a variety of clinical abnorrnalities that include neurological diserders and dermatological abnormalities , It has been thought that human biotin deficiency is extremely rare since biotin is present in various fbods. However , it has been reported that marginal biotin deficiency develops during normal human gestation and that biotin deficiency is teratogenic in several animal species . It has also been reported that the possibility of biotin de丘ciency is increased in infants who were fed a special formula for the treatment of allergies . These 且ndings indicate that it is sti且l needed to evaluate the biotin status of human subjects . This review provides the recent advances in methods fbr the assessment ofthe biotin status. KeJ / words :biotin, deficiency, biotin assay , biomarker, assessment ofbiotin status