Tag: Visual pigments

According to the World Health Organization, vitamin A deficiency is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children worldwide, affecting between 250,000 and 500,000 children each year. This devastating condition highlights a critical biological link: vitamin A is needed for visual pigments, which are essential for vision, particularly in low light.

First identified in the 1940s, vitamin A2 has a distinct chemical structure and origin that sets it apart from its more common counterpart, vitamin A1. The other name for vitamin A2, a crucial piece of this biochemical puzzle, is 3-dehydroretinol. This lesser-known retinoid plays a unique role in the biology of certain species, particularly freshwater fish.