The biological activity of retinotaurine.
The ability of the biliary metabolite retinotaurine to reverse the cornification of vaginal epithelial cells induced by vitamin A deficiency was assessed using a vaginal smear assay. Retinotaurine activity was examined following the intravaginal administration of 10(-12) mol to 10(-8) mol of this compound per vagina. This metabolite exhibited no detectable activity at any dose tested. These results show that retinotaurine cannot be more than 1% as active as all-trans-retinoic acid since retinoic acid shows a response at concentrations of 10(-10) mol per vagina. The low biological activity of this recently identified biliary metabolite suggests that it represents an excretory form of retinoic acid.
D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay; D002369:Castration; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D051381:Rats; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014623:Vaginal Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D014626:Vaginal Smears; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000188:drug therapy*
D014212:Tretinoin; C035166:retinotaurine