Biotin for Hair Loss: Teasing Out the Evidence.

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.