Vitamin A is a fat-soluble vitamin, hence an essential nutrient. The term "vitamin A" encompasses a group of chemically related organic compounds that includes retinol, retinal, retinoic acid, and several provitamin (precursor) carotenoids, most notably beta-carotene. Vitamin A has multiple functions: essential in embryo development for growth, maintaining the immune system, and healthy vision, where it combines with the protein opsin to form rhodopsin – the light-absorbing molecule necessary for both low-light and color vision.
Retinol, also called vitamin A1, is a fat-soluble vitamin in the vitamin A family that is found in food and used as a dietary supplement. Retinol or other forms of vitamin A are needed for vision, cellular development, maintenance of skin and mucous membranes, immune function and reproductive development. Dietary sources include fish, dairy products, and meat. As a supplement it is used to treat and prevent vitamin A deficiency, especially that which results in xerophthalmia. It is taken by mouth or by injection into a muscle. As an ingredient in skin-care products, it is used to reduce wrinkles and other effects of skin aging.
Acetaldehyde dehydrogenases are dehydrogenase enzymes which catalyze the conversion of acetaldehyde into acetyl-CoA. This can be summarized as follows:
Tretinoin, also known as all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA), is a medication used for the treatment of acne and acute promyelocytic leukemia. For acne, it is applied to the skin as a cream, gel or ointment. For leukemia, it is taken by mouth for up to three months. Topical tretinoin is also the most extensively investigated retinoid therapy for photoaging.
Retinal is a polyene chromophore. Retinal, bound to proteins called opsins, is the chemical basis of visual phototransduction, the light-detection stage of visual perception (vision).
The retinoids are a class of chemical compounds that are vitamers of vitamin A or are chemically related to it. Retinoids have found use in medicine where they regulate epithelial cell growth.
Retinyl palmitate, or vitamin A palmitate, is the ester of retinol (vitamin A) and palmitic acid, with formula C36H60O2. It is the most abundant form of vitamin A storage in animals.
Hypervitaminosis A refers to the toxic effects of ingesting too much preformed vitamin A. Symptoms arise as a result of altered bone metabolism and altered metabolism of other fat-soluble vitamins. Hypervitaminosis A is believed to have occurred in early humans, and the problem has persisted throughout human history. Toxicity results from ingesting too much preformed vitamin A from foods, supplements, or prescription medications and can be prevented by ingesting no more than the recommended daily amount.
Retinoic acid (used simplified here for all-trans-retinoic acid) is a metabolite of vitamin A1 (all-trans-retinol) that mediates the functions of vitamin A1 required for growth and development. All-trans-retinoic acid is required in chordate animals, which includes all higher animals from fish to humans. During early embryonic development, all-trans-retinoic acid generated in a specific region of the embryo helps determine position along the embryonic anterior/posterior axis by serving as an intercellular signaling molecule that guides development of the posterior portion of the embryo. It acts through Hox genes, which ultimately control anterior/posterior patterning in early developmental stages.
Phytol is an acyclic hydrogenated diterpene alcohol that is used as a precursor for the manufacture of synthetic forms of vitamin E and vitamin K1, as well as in the fragrance industry. Its other commercial uses include cosmetics, shampoos, toilet soaps, and detergents, as well as in some cannabis distillates as a diluent or for flavoring. Its worldwide use has been estimated to be approximately 0.1–1.0 metric tons per year.
Carotenoid oxygenases are a family of enzymes involved in the cleavage of carotenoids to produce, for example, retinol, commonly known as vitamin A. This family includes an enzyme known as RPE65 which is abundantly expressed in the retinal pigment epithelium where it catalyzed the formation of 11-cis-retinol from all-trans-retinyl esters.
The retinoid X receptor (RXR) is a type of nuclear receptor that is activated by 9-cis retinoic acid, which is discussed controversially to be of endogenous relevance, and 9-cis-13,14-dihydroretinoic acid, which is likely to be the major endogenous mammalian RXR-selective agonist.
Dehydroretinal (3,4-dehydroretinal) is a derivative metabolite of retinal belonging to the group of vitamin A2 as a retinaldehyde form, besides the endogenously present 3,4-dehydroretinol and 3,4-dehydroretinoic acid.
In enzymology, a retinol dehydrogenase (RDH) (EC 1.1.1.105) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
In enzymology, a retinal dehydrogenase, also known as retinaldehyde dehydrogenase (RALDH), catalyzes the chemical reaction converting retinal to retinoic acid. This enzyme belongs to the family of oxidoreductases, specifically the class acting on aldehyde or oxo- donor groups with NAD+ or NADP+ as acceptor groups, the systematic name being retinal:NAD+ oxidoreductase. This enzyme participates in retinol metabolism. The general scheme for the reaction catalyzed by this enzyme is:
Retinoid X receptor gamma (RXR-gamma), also known as NR2B3 is a nuclear receptor that in humans is encoded by the RXRG gene.
Retinol binding protein 1, cellular, also known as RBP1, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the RBP1 gene.
Retinol-binding protein 2 (RBP2) is a protein that in humans is encoded by the RBP2 gene.
Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1 family, member A2, also known as ALDH1A2 or retinaldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (RALDH2), is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ALDH1A2 gene.
CYP27C1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CYP27C1 gene. The Enzyme Commission number (EC) for this protein is EC 1.14.19.53. The full accepted name is all-trans-retinol 3,4-desaturase and the EC number 1 classifies CYP27C1 as a oxidoreductase that acts on paired donor by reducing oxygen. It is also identifiable by the UniProt code Q4G0S4.
