Effect of Biotin Deficiency Upon the Skin of Mice

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Abstract
The growth potentials of the skin and its appendages are not appreciably affected by biotin deficiency, but normal differentiation and function are impaired. The epidermis becomes thick and kera-totic, the exits of the pilosebaceous units are blocked by kera-tinized material, and little or no sebum is secreted upon the surface of the skin. In the sebaceous cells the stored lipid droplets are much larger than in normal skin and the cells at the periphery of the glands become fragmented. The sebaceous lipids of biotin-deficient skin, unlike those in normal skin are usually isotropic and negative to the Liebermann-Burchard test. Macrophages and pigment-bearing cells, both engorged with lipid droplets, surround the fragmenting sebaceous glands. In the dermis there is an increase in the number of mesenchymatous cells, mast cells, and leukocytic cells.