Teratogenic effects of biotin deficiency in mice.

Teratogenic effects of maternal biotin deficiency produced by a diet containing egg white were studied in mice. More than 90% of the fetuses from biotin-deficient females showed external or skeletal congenital abnormalities. The predominant malformations were micrognathia (91%), cleft palate (82%) and micromelia (41%). Simultaneous supplementation of biotin at the level of 10 mg/kg in the diet thoroughly prevented these malformations. Thus congenital malformations observed in this study were apparently due to the maternal dietary deficiency of biotin during pregnancy. Even though so many fetuses were malformed and many were also stunted, their dams did not exhibit any overt signs of biotin deficiency such as alopecia, dermatitis or nervous irritability.