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The Function of Vitamin A in Cellular Growth and Differentiation, and Its Roles during Pregnancy and Lactation

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Nutrient Regulation during Pregnancy, Lactation, and Infant Growth

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 352))

Abstract

In 1913, vitamin A was first described as a nutritional factor essential for growth and life itself, but another 18 years passed before the chemical nature of vitamin A was elucidated (see Ross, 1991). The term vitamin A is now used to comprise retinol and the retinol precursor, β-carotene, as well as the natural metabolites of retinol which retain growth- and health-promoting activities. A principal active metabolite of vitamin A is retinoic acid, formed in cells through the regulated oxidation of retinol. The term “retinoids” was coined to include both the natural forms of vitamin A and an expanding array of synthetic analogs which bear a structural relationship to retinol or retinoic acid and which generally share some but not all of their biological properties (Sporn and Roberts, 1985; De Luca, 1991; Frickel, 1984).

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  1. Division of Nutrition, Department of Biochemistry, Medical College of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 19129, USA

    Dr. A. Catharine Ross & Elizabeth M. Gardner

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  1. Dr. A. Catharine Ross
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  1. University of California-Davis, Davis, California, USA

    Lindsay Allen  & Bo Lönnerdal  & 

  2. University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, California, USA

    Janet King

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Ross, A.C., Gardner, E.M. (1994). The Function of Vitamin A in Cellular Growth and Differentiation, and Its Roles during Pregnancy and Lactation. In: Allen, L., King, J., Lönnerdal, B. (eds) Nutrient Regulation during Pregnancy, Lactation, and Infant Growth. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 352. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-2575-6_15

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