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david 4.5k

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Biotin demonstrates neuroprotective properties through multiple mechanisms, including mitochondrial support, antioxidant effects, anti-inflammatory activity, and promotion of remyelination.

Biotin's Mechanisms of Neuroprotection

Biotin functions as an essential cofactor for enzymes involved in energy metabolism, fatty acid synthesis, and amino acid catabolism.[[1]] In neurodegenerative conditions, biotin supplementation restores mitochondrial function by normalizing ATP production, mitochondrial biogenesis, and cardiolipin levels.[[2]][[3]] In one study, biotin rescued mitochondrial dysfunction and neurotoxicity, with reduced carboxylase biotin levels observed in Alzheimer's disease patient brains.[[4]]

Biotin exhibits potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. It attenuates oxidative stress by reducing reactive oxygen species production, lipid peroxidation products, and protein oxidation while normalizing antioxidant enzyme activities.[[2]][[5]] High-dose biotin (6 mg) significantly reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines and decreased caspase-3 and PARP1 levels in radiation-induced brain injury models.[[5]]

Evidence in Other Conditions

In multiple sclerosis models, biotin promotes oligodendrocyte survival, enhances myelin-like ensheathment, and increases ATP production in oligodendrocyte lineage cells.[[6]] A novel magnesium-biotin complex demonstrated dose-dependent improvements in hippocampal remyelination, with enhanced effects on neuronal transmission proteins and increased BDNF and GAP43 expression.[[7]]

Biotin protects against manganese-induced parkinsonian neurotoxicity in both Drosophila and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived dopaminergic neurons, ameliorating behavioral deficits, neuronal loss, and mitochondrial dysfunction.[[8]] A prospective study of 122,959 UK Biobank participants found that higher dietary biotin intake was associated with reduced risk of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer's disease, with systemic immune-inflammation index partially mediating this association.[[9]]

In progressive MS, an open-label pilot study using extremely high-dose biotin (100-300 mg/d) showed clinical improvement in over 90% of patients, though this requires confirmation in controlled trials.[[10]]

References

1. Biotin in Metabolism, Gene Expression, and Human Disease. León-Del-Río A. Journal of Inherited Metabolic Disease. 2019;42(4):647-654. doi:10.1002/jimd.12073.
2. Biotin Attenuation of Oxidative Stress, Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Lipid Metabolism Alteration and 7β-Hydroxycholesterol-Induced Cell Death in 158N Murine Oligodendrocytes. Sghaier R, Zarrouk A, Nury T, et al. Free Radical Research. 2019;53(5):535-561. doi:10.1080/10715762.2019.1612891.
3. High-Dose Biotin Restores Redox Balance, Energy and Lipid Homeostasis, and Axonal Health in a Model of Adrenoleukodystrophy. Fourcade S, Goicoechea L, Parameswaran J, et al. Brain Pathology (Zurich, Switzerland). 2020;30(5):945-963. doi:10.1111/bpa.12869.
4. Biotin Rescues Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Neurotoxicity in a Tauopathy Model. Lohr KM, Frost B, Scherzer C, Feany MB. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2020;117(52):33608-33618. doi:10.1073/pnas.1922392117.
5. Mitigating Effect of Biotin Against Irradiation-Induced Cerebral Cortical and Hippocampal Damage in the Rat Brain Tissue. Abdel-Magied N, Shedid SM, Ahmed AG. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International. 2019;26(13):13441-13452. doi:10.1007/s11356-019-04806-x.
6. Effects of Biotin on Survival, Ensheathment, and ATP Production by Oligodendrocyte Lineage Cells in Vitro. Cui QL, Lin YH, Xu YKT, et al. PloS One. 2020;15(5):e0233859. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0233859.
7. Dose-Dependent Effect of a New Biotin Compound in Hippocampal Remyelination in Rats. Yulug B, Kilic E, Oğuz T, et al. Molecular Neurobiology. 2025;62(5):6503-6520. doi:10.1007/s12035-025-04686-y.
8. Biotin Mitigates the Development of Manganese-Induced, Parkinson's Disease-Related Neurotoxicity in Drosophila and Human Neurons. Lai Y, Reina-Gonzalez P, Maor G, Miller GW, Sarkar S. Science Signaling. 2025;18(870):eadn9868. doi:10.1126/scisignal.adn9868.
9. Association Between Dietary Biotin Intake and Dementia Risk, Including Alzheimer's Disease: A Prospective Study of 122 959 UK Biobank Participants. Kong Y, Zhong J, Wang T, Zhang D. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research. 2025;:e70252. doi:10.1002/mnfr.70252.
10. Use of Vitamins and Dietary Supplements by Patients With Multiple Sclerosis: A Review. Evans E, Piccio L, Cross AH. JAMA Neurology. 2018;75(8):1013-1021. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2018.0611.