Obesity negatively affects multiple metabolic pathways, but little is known about the impact of obesity on vitamin A (VA)[retinol (ROL)], a nutrient that regulates expression of genes in numerous pathways essential for human development and health. We demonstrate that obese mice, generated from a high fat diet (HFD) or by genetic mutations (i.e., ob/ob; db/db), have greatly reduced ROL levels in multiple organs, including liver, lungs, pancreas, and kidneys, even though their diets have adequate VA. However, obese mice exhibit elevated serum VA. Organs from obese mice show impaired VA transcriptional signaling, including reductions in retinoic acid receptor (RARα, RARβ2 and RARγ) mRNAs and lower intracellular ROL binding protein Crbp1 (RBP1) levels in VA-storing stellate cells. Reductions in organ VA signaling in obese mice correlate with increasing adiposity and fatty liver (steatosis), while with weight loss VA levels and signaling normalize. Consistent with our findings in obese mice, we show that increasing severity of fatty liver disease in humans correlates with reductions in hepatic VA, VA transcriptional signaling, and Crbp1 levels in VA storing stellate cells. Thus, obesity causes a “silent” VA deficiency marked by reductions in VA levels and signaling in multiple organs, but not detected by serum VA.

Background:Little is known about vitamin A (VA) regulation of pancreatic endocrine mass in adults. Results: Decreased pancreatic VA causes increased ␣-cell to ␤-cell mass ratios, hyperglycemia, and hyperglucagonemia. Reintroducing dietary VA restores normoglycemia and ␣-cell to ␤-cell mass. Conclusion: VA is essential for maintenance of ␤-cell functions in adult pancreas. Significance: VA therapies may potentially prevent ␤-cell apoptosis and loss in diabetes.

Aims Retinoids (vitamin A (retinol), and structurally related molecules) possess metabolic modulating properties, prompting new interest in their role in the treatment of diabetes and fatty liver disease, but little is known about the effects of specific retinoic acid receptor (RAR) agonists in these diseases. Materials and Methods Synthetic agonists for retinoic acid receptor RARβ2 were administered to wild type (wt) mice in a model of high fat diet (HFD)-induced type 2 diabetes (T2D) and to ob/ob and db/db mice (genetic models of obesity-associated T2D). Results We demonstrate that administration of synthetic agonists for the retinoic acid receptor RARβ2 to either wild type (wt) mice in a model of high fat diet (HFD)-induced type 2 diabetes (T2D) or to ob/ob and db/db mice (genetic models of obesity-associated T2D) reduces hyperglycemia, peripheral insulin resistance, and body weight. Furthermore, RARβ2 agonists dramatically reduce steatosis, lipid peroxidation, and oxidative stress in the liver, pancreas, and kidneys of obese, diabetic mice. RARβ2 agonists also lower levels of mRNAs involved in lipogenesis, such as SREBP1 and FASN (fatty acid synthase), and increase mRNAs that mediate mitochondrial fatty acid β-oxidation, such as CPT1α, in these organs. RARβ2 agonists lower triglyceride levels in these organs, and in muscle. Conclusions Collectively, our data show that orally active, rapidly acting, high affinity pharmacological agonists for RARβ2 improve the diabetic phenotype while reducing lipid levels in key insulin target tissues. We suggest that RARβ2 agonists should be useful drugs for T2D therapy and for treatment of hepatic steatosis.

The 2020 global outbreak of the novel coronavirus (SARS‐CoV‐2 or COVID‐19) is a serious threat to international health, and thus, there is an urgent need for discovery of novel therapies or use of repurposed drugs that can make a significant impact on slowing the spread of the virus. Type 1 interferons (IFN‐I) are a family cytokines of the early innate immune response to viruses that are being tested against SARS‐CoV‐2. However, coronaviruses similar to SARS‐CoV‐2 can suppress host IFN‐I antiviral responses. Retinoids are a family molecules related to vitamin A that possess robust immune‐modulating properties, including the ability to increase and potentiate the actions of IFN‐I. Therefore, adjuvants such as retinoids, capable of increasing IFN‐I‐mediated antiviral responses, should be tested in combinations of IFN‐I and antiviral drugs in pre‐clinical studies of SARS‐CoV‐2.