Biomed Pap Med Fac Univ Palacky Olomouc Czech Repub. 2024, 168(2):132-138 | DOI: 10.5507/bp.2023.049

Levels of retinol and retinoic acid in pancreatic cancer, type-2 diabetes and chronic pancreatitis

Pavel Hrabak1, Miroslava Zelenkova2, Tomas Krechler1, Jan Soupal3, Michal Vocka4, Tomas Hanus5, Lubos Petruzelka4, Stepan Svacina3, Ales Zak1, Tomas Zima2, Marta Kalousova2
1 Fourth Department of Internal Medicine, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
2 Institute of Medical Biochemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Czech Republic
3 3rd Department of Medicine - Department of Endocrinology and Metabolism, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
4 Department of Oncology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
5 Department of Urology, First Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

Aims: Retinoids participate in multiple key processes in the human body e.g., vision, cell differentiation and embryonic development. There is growing evidence of the relationship between retinol, its active metabolite- all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) - and several pancreatic disorders. Although low levels of ATRA in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tissue have been reported, data on serum levels of ATRA in PDAC is still limited. The aim of our work was to determine serum concentrations of retinol and ATRA in patients with PDAC, type-2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), chronic pancreatitis (CHP) and healthy controls.

Methods: High performance liquid chromatography with UV detection (HPLC) was used to measure serum levels of retinol and ATRA in 246 patients with different stages of PDAC, T2DM, CHP and healthy controls.

Results: We found a significant decrease in the retinol concentration in PDAC (0.44+/-0.18 mg/L) compared to T2DM (0.65+/-0.19 mg/L, P<0.001), CHP (0.60+/-0.18 mg/L, P< 0.001) and healthy controls (0.61+/-0.15 mg/L, P<0.001), significant decrease of ATRA levels in PDAC (1.14+/-0.49 ug/L) compared to T2DM (1.37+/-0.56 ug/L, P<0.001) and healthy controls(1.43+/-0.55 ug/L, P<0.001). Differences between early stages (I+II) of PDAC and non-carcinoma groups were not significant. We describe correlations between retinol, prealbumin and transferrin, and correlation of ATRA and IGFBP-2.

Conclusion: Significant decrease in retinol and ATRA levels in PDAC compared to T2DM, healthy individuals and/or CHP supports existing evidence of the role of retinoids in PDAC. However, neither ATRA nor retinol are suitable for detection of early PDAC. Correlation of ATRA levels and IGFBP-2 provides new information about a possible IGF and retinol relationship.

Keywords: all-trans-retinoic-acid, chronic pancreatitis, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, type-2 diabetes mellitus, vitamin A

Received: October 3, 2023; Revised: November 17, 2023; Accepted: November 23, 2023; Prepublished online: December 6, 2023; Published: June 10, 2024  Show citation

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Hrabak, P., Zelenkova, M., Krechler, T., Soupal, J., Vocka, M., Hanus, T., ... Kalousova, M. (2024). Levels of retinol and retinoic acid in pancreatic cancer, type-2 diabetes and chronic pancreatitis. Biomedical papers, 168(2), 132-138. doi: 10.5507/bp.2023.049
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