Possible Biotin Deficiency in Adults Receiving Long-Term Total Parenteral Nutrition
February 1983
in “
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
”
TLDR Biotin deficiency can cause hair loss in adults on long-term TPN, but supplementation helps regrow hair.
Two adult patients on long-term total parenteral nutrition (TPN) experienced severe hair loss due to a lack of biotin, as they had undergone extensive gut resection and received no biotin orally or parenterally. Supplementation with 200 μg of biotin daily led to gradual hair regrowth. Once biotin was included in their parenteral nutrition, there was no recurrence of alopecia. This suggested that biotin deficiency could occur in adults when no preformed biotin is provided and intestinal microbial biosynthesis is insufficient.
