Biotin supplementation and gut inflammation in mice with colitis
What it found
High-dose biotin in drinking water delayed and reduced gut inflammation in mice with colitis.
It also helped the animals recover faster once the disease was triggered.
What they found
Animal and lab studies
Less severe colitis in mice
Mice given biotin before the gut irritant had milder symptoms. Their disease started later, peaked lower, and their gut tissue looked much closer to healthy mice than untreated ones did.
Faster recovery in mice
When biotin was given after colitis started, the mice recovered fully within 4 days. Mice that only got plain water still had shortened guts and mild tissue damage at that point.
Lower inflammation markers
Biotin-treated mice had less calprotectin in their stool, which is a marker of gut inflammation. Three key inflammatory signals in the gut tissue were also lower with biotin treatment.
Tighter gut barrier in mice
Biotin helped keep the gut lining intact. Treated mice had less leakage through the gut wall and better levels of proteins that hold gut cells together tightly.
Reduced NF-κB activation
In the mice, biotin lowered the active form of a protein called NF-κB, which drives inflammation. Total amounts of this protein stayed the same, but less of it was switched on.
Studies in people and animals
Fewer biotin transporters in patients
Biopsy samples from people with active ulcerative colitis had fewer biotin transporters in the colon than samples from healthy people. A database of 202 human biopsy specimens confirmed this drop during active disease.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that oral biotin helps maintain and induce remission in a mouse model of inflammatory bowel disease by reducing NF-κB activation.
- They suggest biotin could be a useful therapy for patients with inflammatory bowel disease because it can be taken by mouth and has few side effects.
- They call for future clinical studies to test whether biotin supplements help people with this condition.
How it was done
The authors previously found that a lack of biotin causes severe gut inflammation in mice, which clears up when biotin is given. They wanted to see if extra biotin could treat gut inflammation in a standard animal model for inflammatory bowel disease, and figure out how it works.
Mice aged 8 to 10 weeks were given a chemical in their drinking water to trigger colitis. Some received 1 mmol/L biotin in their water before or after the disease started. The researchers tracked weight loss, stool quality, bleeding, gut length, and tissue damage over 7 days or up to 14 weeks.
What it can’t tell you
- These results come from mice given a chemical to cause gut irritation, so they cannot show what happens in people who take biotin.
- The link between fewer biotin transporters and active disease in people does not prove that low biotin causes the flare-ups.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by NCATS NIH HHS; NIAID NIH HHS; NIDDK NIH HHS; BLRD VA; NINDS NIH HHS; NIAAA NIH HHS (from the PubMed record).
- Authors work at
- University of California Irvine, California
The paper
- Title
- Biotin Supplementation Ameliorates Murine Colitis by Preventing NF-κB Activation
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people · animals · lab
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Skupsky J, Sabui S, Hwang M, Nakasaki M, Cahalan MD, Said HM (2020). Biotin Supplementation Ameliorates Murine Colitis by Preventing NF-κB Activation. Cellular and molecular gastroenterology and hepatology. doi:10.1016/j.jcmgh.2019.11.011Free full textPubMed 31786364DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error