Active Ingredient Biotin (vitamin H)

a water-soluble, enzyme co-factor present in minute amounts in every living cell. it occurs mainly bound to proteins or polypeptides and is abundant in liver, kidney, pancreas, yeast, and milk.

Source:

medlineplus herbs and supplements: biotin (vitamin h)

Medical Condition	Uses based on scientific evidence	Grade*
diabetes mellitus	in early research, biotin has been reported to decrease insulin resistance and improve glucose tolerance, which are both properties that may be beneficial in patients with types 2 (adult-onset) diabetes. other research suggests that a combination of biotin and chromium may help improve blood sugar control. however, there is not enough human evidence to form a clear conclusion in this area.	c
diabetes mellitus without mention of complication	a combination of biotin and chromium may help lower cholesterol and decrease the risk of developing clogged arteries (called atherosclerosis) in diabetics. however, other research of biotin alone found that biotin did not affect cholesterol, glucose, or insulin levels, but did decrease triglyceride levels. more research with biotin alone is needed.	c
hepatitis unspecified	antioxidant therapy with biotin, vitamins a-e, selenium, zinc, manganese, copper, magnesium, folic acid, coenzyme q10 did not improve survival rates in alcoholics with hepatitis. more research with biotin alone is needed.	c
other b-complex deficiencies	biotin deficiency is extremely rare. some potential causes of biotin deficiency are: long-term use of certain anti-seizure medications; prolonged oral antibiotic use; intestinal malabsorption (for example short gut syndrome); intravenous feeding (total parenteral nutrition/tpn) without added biotin; and eating raw egg whites on a regular basis. supplementing with biotin appears helpful for the treatment of this deficiency.	a
other specified disorders of liver	intravenous feeding solutions (tpn) should contain biotin, in order to avoid biotin deficiency in recipient patients. this applies for patients in whom tpn is the sole source of nutrition. more study is needed in this area to make a firm recommendation.	c
unspecified complication of pregnancy	marginal biotin deficiency has been found to commonly occur during pregnancy. biotin supplementation during pregnancy is not currently standard practice, and prenatal vitamins generally do not contain biotin. however, individual patients may be considered for biotin supplementation by healthcare practitioners on a case-by-case basis. additional study is needed in this area.	c

*Key to grades
A: Strong scientific evidence for this use;
B: Good scientific evidence for this use;
C: Unclear scientific evidence for this use;
D: Fair scientific evidence against this use;
F: Strong scientific evidence against this use.