Effects of age and biotin status on postnatal development of plasma biotinidase activity in rats.

Biotinidase activity was measured in plasmas of 1-, 7-, 14-, and 21-day-old rats from control dams and dams that had been fed a biotin-depleting diet from Day 15 of gestation. Biotinidase activity increased significantly in the plasma of rats from control and depleted mothers until Postnatal Day 14, after which there was a small but significant decline at Day 21. Differences between the mean activities of the two groups of pups on each sampling day were not significant and there were no significant differences in activity levels attributable to sex. Plasma albumin concentrations increased from birth until Day 21, and plasma biotinidase activity and albumin concentration were significantly correlated (r = +/- 0.43). We suggested that these two proteins may be controlled by a common mechanism in the early postnatal period, and that biotin deficiency does not affect the development of biotinidase activity. Because biotin-depleted neonatal pups show developmental changes in biotinidase activity similar to those of human newborns, and they can be produced reliably by depleting dams from Day 15 of gestation, they may be useful models for studying the developmental abnormalities associated with human biotinidase deficiency.