Biotin status and lipid metabolism in adult obese hypercholesterolemic inbred rats.

A statistically significant inverse association was generally found between plasma total lipid, cholesterol, or phospholipid and biotin status of 300-day-old male inbred BHE (IN-BHE) rats. Plasma, liver, and carcass lipid of both sexes generally had a significant direct association with liver lactate dehydrogenase activity; an inverse association in males resulted with improved biotin status. Elevated plasma lactate indicative of anaerobic glycolysis was found. It is proposed that an increased reductive environment - a consequence of accumulated NADH - could account for enhanced triglyceride synthesis and that this effect could explain the obesity in the IN-BHE rats. After the injection of 300 mug of biotin, plasma levels of lactate and pyruvate fell in male rats, indicating a stimulatory effect of biotin upon the oxidative pathways in these animals.