retinol
Noun
Meaning
A hydrocarbon oil obtained by the distillation of resin, -- used in printer's ink.
Source: Webster's dictionarySynonyms
Hypernyms
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Examples
Commercial production of retinol typically requires retinal synthesis through reduction of a pentadiene derivative and subsequent acidification/hydrolysis of the resulting isomer to produce retinol.
For many years, a system of equivalencies in which an international unit (IU) was equal to 0.3 μg of retinol, 0.6 μg of β-carotene, or 1.2 μg of other provitamin-A carotenoids was used.
However, such rats show infertility (in both male and females) and continued degeneration of the retina, showing that these functions require retinal or retinol, which are interconvertible but which cannot be recovered from the oxidized retinoic acid.
Also, since retinol can induce a sensitivity to light, apply it at night only and never skip sunscreen application in the AM.
Liver cells ( hepatocytes ) store vitamin A as the ester, and when retinol is needed in other tissues, it is de-esterifed and released into the blood as the alcohol.
Hydrolysis of retinyl esters results in retinol, while provitamin A carotenoids can be cleaved to produce retinal by carotene dioxygenase in the intestinal mucosa.