More biotin, more IGF-1

Biotin

If you give laboratory animals too little biotin their growth is retarded. But how come? What's the mechanism at work here? This is the question the Mexicans set out to answer in an animal study where they gave mice a diet lacking in biotin from three weeks of age on.

Animal study

The researchers gave one group of mice a standard diet, and gave two experimental groups a diet containing 30 percent egg protein. One of the experimental groups got food containing no biotin, the other got food to which biotin had been added. As the researchers expected, the mice with a biotin deficiency grew less fast.









When they examined the blood of the no-biotin mice the researchers discovered how the deficiency had caused the retarded growth. Although the growth hormone concentration was normal, the IGF-1 level in the mice's blood was reduced.









Mechanism

The researchers speculate that biotin does something with the DNA, RNA and the proteins that 'read' the genetic material. Biotin gets cells to produce more IGF-1, but how this happens the researchers do not go into.

Nor did the Mexicans examine what happens to the IGF-1 level if you put the mice back on a normal diet, and give them a high dose of biotin on top of that.

Source:

Eur J Nutr. 2009 Apr;48(3):137-44.



More:

This is how the slimming vitamin biotin works 04.01.2014

High dose of biotin sabotages fat cell growth 01.01.2014



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