Biotin for Hair Loss: Teasing Out the Evidence

Abstract

Objective: Biotin has widespread popularity as a hair supplement. We sought to review the literature regarding biotin's efficacy as a hair supplement.

Methods: We conducted a literature search of PubMed for articles specifically studying the use of oral biotin for hair growth or quality. Case reports and case series were excluded.

Results: Three studies met our inclusion criteria. The first study was the highest quality, with a double-blind and placebo-controlled study design, but their results found no difference between the biotin and placebo groups for hair growth. The other two studies investigated specific patient populations (patients on isotretinoin and female patients post-sleeve gastrectomy). Both studies were susceptible to multiple potential biases and neither had striking results in favor of biotin.

Limitations: Our review is limited by lack of available studies.

Conclusion: Given the widespread popularity of biotin as a hair supplement, one would presume that this claim must be grounded in strong evidence; however, there is a large discrepancy between the public's perception of its efficacy and the scientific literature. The utility of biotin as a hair supplement is not supported by high-quality studies.

Keywords: Biotin; alopecia; hair loss; supplement; vitamin B-7; vitamin H.

FIGURE 1.

Summary of review conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines