title: The molecular basis of retinoic acid induced night blindness.
abstract: Drugs which affect the processing of vitamin A in the retina or pigment epithelium can cause ocular toxicity. It is shown here that the retinoic acids, which are used in the treatment of skin disorders and which cause night blindness, inhibit the ocular retinol dehydrogenases in an in vitro system. This is shown to lead to a decrease in the formation of the visual chromophore 11-cis-retinal, thus explaining why night blindness might occur.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Law
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Rando
mesh_terms: D000429:Alcohol Oxidoreductases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D000818:Animals; D004224:Diterpenes; D009755:Night Blindness / Q000209:etiology*; D010857:Pigment Epithelium of Eye / Q000378:metabolism; D011894:Rana pipiens; D012160:Retina / Q000378:metabolism*; D012172:Retinaldehyde / Q000096:biosynthesis; D000084562:Retinyl Esters; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000633:toxicity*; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D004224:Diterpenes; D000084562:Retinyl Esters; D014801:Vitamin A; C014794:retinol palmitate; D014212:Tretinoin; D000429:Alcohol Oxidoreductases; C022520:retinol dehydrogenase; D012172:Retinaldehyde