title: Plasma delivery of retinoic acid to tissues in the rat.
abstract: All-trans-retinoic acid (RA) activates ligand-dependent transcription factors that regulate retinoid-responsive gene expression. It is assumed that all-trans-RA is formed within cells through in situ oxidation of retinol derived from the circulation. However, the circulation contains low levels of all-trans-RA (approximately 0.2-0.7% of that of plasma retinol). Our studies investigated the extent to which plasma all-trans-RA contributes to tissue pools of this retinoid and explored factors responsible for regulating its uptake by tissues and cells. Rats were continuously infused, to steady state, with all-trans-[3H]RA. From measures of specific activities of all-trans-[3H]RA at steady state, we determined that the preponderance of all-trans-RA in brain and liver was derived from the circulation. For six other tissues, approximately 10-30% of the retinoid was derived from the circulation, but pancreas and testis derived very little from the circulating pool. In other studies, we showed that retinoid nutritional status influences clearance of a bolus dose of all-trans-RA and that neither the rate of cellular all-trans-RA uptake nor its intracellular half-life is influenced by cellular lipid levels. Taken together, our data indicate that plasma all-trans-RA contributes to tissue pools of this retinoid and that specific and physiologically responsive cellular processes mediate its uptake.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Human Nutrition, Columbia University, New York, New York 10032, USA.
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kurlandsky
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Gamble
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramakrishnan
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Blaner
mesh_terms: D017667:Adipocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D006207:Half-Life; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013737:Testis / Q000378:metabolism; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000097:blood / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*
chemical_list: D014212:Tretinoin