Vitamin A deficiency alters rat lung alveolar basement membrane Reversibility by retinoic acid☆

Vitamin A deficiency disturbs collagen IV and laminin composition and decreases matrix metalloproteinase concentrations in rat lung. Partial reversibility by retinoic acid

“…As already reported [18,25], the retinol concentration in VAD rats plasma was lowered to less than 5% of the control group and did not increase with the retinoic acid treatment. Likewise, the amounts of retinol and retinol palmitate per gram of tissue in both VAD and RR lungs were lowered by more than 95%.…”

“…In a recent work, we showed that collagens I and IV, the main interstitial and BM collagens, respectively, display an increased presence in the lungs of VAD rats and, in parallel, the alveolar BM doubles in thickness and appears to have an ectopic deposition of collagen I fibrils inside [18]. Treatment with RA restores, at least partially, both the functional lung properties and the ECM structure and composition, suggesting the implication of the ECM in lung function alterations [18,19].…”

“…Although some work has been done on the ECM composition and structure in VAD lung [15,16,18,19], very little is known about BMs' molecular composition. Therefore, by considering that BM molecules influence cell behaviour [9,20], its molecular composition is modified in many diseases [21][22][23][24] and its structure is altered in VAD [18], we analyzed the chain composition of collagen IV and laminin as well as the ECM degradation capacity in the lungs of VAD rats before and after RA treatment.…”

Dhrs3 Protein Attenuates Retinoic Acid Signaling and Is Required for Early Embryonic Patterning

“…All-trans-retinoic acid (atRA) 5 is a morphogen playing essential roles in various early developmental events, including neural differentiation, mesoderm and endoderm formation, anteroposterior (AP) patterning, and left-right asymmetry of axis formation. It has been implicated that RA signaling is also involved in later organogenesis of the heart (1-3), lung (4,5), kidney (6,7), and pancreas (8).…”

“…It has been implicated that RA signaling is also involved in later organogenesis of the heart (1-3), lung (4,5), kidney (6,7), and pancreas (8). Deficiency or an excess of atRA induces developmental defects in the limb, branchial arches, central nervous system, and internal organs, indicating that a balanced RA concentration is essential for normal embryonic development (9,10).…”