Vitamin A and Derivatives in Medical Use
Retinyl palmitate has been used in skin creams, where it is broken down to retinol and ostensibly metabolised to retinoic acid, which has potent biological activity, as described above.
The retinoids, (for example, 13-cis-retinoic acid), constitute a class of chemical compounds chemically related to retinoic acid, and are used in medicine to modulate gene functions in place of this compound. Like retinoic acid, the related compounds do not have full vitamin A activity, but do have powerful effects on gene expression and epithelial cell differentiation.
Pharmaceutics utilizing mega doses of naturally occurring retinoic acid derivatives are currently in use for cancer, HIV, and dermatological purposes. At high doses, side-effects are similar to vitamin A toxicity. Severe side effects related to vitamin A toxicity, and a small optimal range of use are key obstacles in developing vitamin A-derived pharmaceutics for therapeutic use.
Read more about this topic: Vitamin A
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