Taking Biotin? Mention It Before a Lab Test

The FDA says biotin, often found in dietary supplements, can significantly interfere with certain lab tests and cause incorrect results that may go undetected. The agency keeps receiving reports of falsely low troponin results. Add biotin to the supplement list you share with your doctor before any blood work.

The agency first raised this concern in a 2017 safety communication and has since issued an update with recommendations for consumers, health care providers, lab personnel and test makers. The FDA says some lab test developers have been able to reduce biotin interference in their tests since then, but others have not yet addressed it.

Because the agency remains concerned about tests that have not dealt with the risk, it has decided to notify the public about troponin tests that are subject to biotin interference but have not addressed it. The FDA publishes a list of those tests on its website. The list includes several products labeled as cardiac marker or cardiac disease tests from a number of manufacturers.

The FDA frames this as a clinically important interference, which is why it wants both the public and health care providers to know. If you take a supplement that contains biotin, tell your doctor or the lab before any test, and ask whether it matters for the test you are having.