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Vitamin A Deficiency and the Lung

Vitamin A (all-trans-retinol) is a fat-soluble micronutrient which together with its natural derivatives and synthetic analogues constitutes the group of retinoids. They are involved in a wide range of physiological processes such as embryonic development, vision, immunity and cellular differentiati...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Timoneda, Joaquín, Rodríguez-Fernández, Lucía, Zaragozá, Rosa, Marín, M. Pilar, Cabezuelo, M. Teresa, Torres, Luis, Viña, Juan R., Barber, Teresa
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6164133/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30134568
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu10091132
Descripción
Sumario:Vitamin A (all-trans-retinol) is a fat-soluble micronutrient which together with its natural derivatives and synthetic analogues constitutes the group of retinoids. They are involved in a wide range of physiological processes such as embryonic development, vision, immunity and cellular differentiation and proliferation. Retinoic acid (RA) is the main active form of vitamin A and multiple genes respond to RA signalling through transcriptional and non-transcriptional mechanisms. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a remarkable public health problem. An adequate vitamin A intake is required in early lung development, alveolar formation, tissue maintenance and regeneration. In fact, chronic VAD has been associated with histopathological changes in the pulmonary epithelial lining that disrupt the normal lung physiology predisposing to severe tissue dysfunction and respiratory diseases. In addition, there are important alterations of the structure and composition of extracellular matrix with thickening of the alveolar basement membrane and ectopic deposition of collagen I. In this review, we show our recent findings on the modification of cell-junction proteins in VAD lungs, summarize up-to-date information related to the effects of chronic VAD in the impairment of lung physiology and pulmonary disease which represent a major global health problem and provide an overview of possible pathways involved.