Elsevier

The Journal of Nutrition

Volume 144, Issue 12, December 2014, Pages 1977-1984
The Journal of Nutrition

Pregnancy and Lactation Alter Biomarkers of Biotin Metabolism in Women Consuming a Controlled Diet1,2

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Abstract

Background: Biotin functions as a cofactor for several carboxylase enzymes with key roles in metabolism. At present, the dietary requirement for biotin is unknown and intake recommendations are provided as Adequate Intakes (AIs). The biotin AI for adults and pregnant women is 30 μg/d, whereas 35 μg/d is recommended for lactating women. However, pregnant and lactating women may require more biotin to meet the demands of these reproductive states.

Objective: The current study sought to quantify the impact of reproductive state on biotin status response to a known dietary intake of biotin.

Methods: To achieve this aim, we measured a panel of biotin biomarkers among pregnant (gestational week 27 at study entry; n = 26), lactating (postnatal week 5 at study entry; n = 28), and control (n = 21) women who participated in a 10- to 12-wk feeding study providing 57 μg of dietary biotin/d as part of a mixed diet.

Results:Over the course of the study, pregnant women excreted 69% more (vs. control; P < 0.001) 3-hydroxyisovaleric acid (3-HIA), a metabolite that accumulates during the catabolism of leucine when the activity of biotin-dependent methylcrotonyl–coenzyme A carboxylase is impaired. Interestingly, urinary excretion of 3-hydroxyisovaleryl-carnitine (3-HIA-carnitine), a downstream metabolite of 3-HIA, was 27% lower (P = 0.05) among pregnant (vs. control) women, a finding that may arise from carnitine inadequacy during gestation. No differences (P > 0.05) were detected in plasma biotin, urinary biotin, or urinary bisnorbiotin between pregnant and control women. Lactating women excreted 76% more (vs. control; P = 0.001) of the biotin catabolite bisnorbiotin, indicating that lactation accelerates biotin turnover and loss. Notably, with respect to control women, lactating women excreted 23% less (P = 0.04) urinary 3-HIA and 26% less (P = 0.05) urinary 3-HIA-carnitine, suggesting that lactation reduces leucine catabolism and that these metabolites may not be useful indicators of biotin status during lactation.

Conclusions: Overall, these data demonstrate significant alterations in markers of biotin metabolism during pregnancy and lactation and suggest that biotin intakes exceeding current recommendations are needed to meet the demands of these reproductive states. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01127022.

Key words

3-hydroxyisovaleric acid
biotin
bisnorbiotin
lactation
pregnancy

Abbreviations

AI
Adequate Intake
HMRU
Human Metabolic Research Unit
LC-MS/MS
LC coupled with tandem MS
LMM
linear mixed model
SRM
selected reaction monitoring
3-HIA
3-hydroxyisovaleric acid
3-HIA-carnitine
3-hydroxyisovaleryl-carnitine

Cited by (0)

1

Supported by the NIH (R03HD065962); the Gerber Foundation; The Hartwell Foundation; the Egg Checkoff, through the Egg Nutrition Center; the Beef Checkoff, through theNational Cattlemen's Beef Association and Nebraska Beef Council; theUSDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES), special research grant 00444528; and The Shepherd University Foundation. The funding sources had no role in the study design, interpretation of the data, and/or publication of results.

2

Author disclosures: CA Perry, AA West, A Gayle, LK Lucas, J Yan, X Jiang, O Malysheva, and MA Caudill, no conflicts of interest.