Ingredient intelligence
Retinaldehyde
Retinoid · Retinal · C20H28O
Retinaldehyde sits one step closer to retinoic acid than retinol, and is studied as a cosmetic retinoid with the same receptor-mediated downstream.
Any underlined term can be tapped for an everyday-English translation.
Molecular identity
- Formula
- C20H28O
- Molecular weight
- 284.4 g/mol
- PubChem CID
- 638015
- ChEBI
- CHEBI:17898
Biological targets
Retinaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH1A1)
high confidencetargets · enzyme
UniProt P00352Retinoic acid receptor gamma (RARG)
medium confidenceactivates · receptor
Indirect, via to retinoic acid.
UniProt P13631
How could this ingredient interact with biology?
Biological network
Ingredient → molecule → target → gene/protein → pathway → process → studied outcome. Relationship strength is drawn from the curated confidence tier; nothing is added to make the chain look complete.
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1 lower-confidence relationship is hidden at this filter level. Use “Show more biology” to include them.
Text alternative for this network
- Retinaldehyde is molecule Retinaldehyde — high confidence
- Retinaldehyde targets Retinaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH1A1) — high confidence
- Retinaldehyde activates Retinoic acid receptor gamma (RARG) — medium confidence
- Retinaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH1A1) encoded by ALDH1A1 — high confidence
- Retinoic acid receptor gamma (RARG) encoded by RARG — medium confidence
- ALDH1A1 participates in Retinoid metabolism and transport — high confidence
- RARG participates in Retinoid metabolism and transport — medium confidence
- Retinoid metabolism and transport associated with Epidermal cell turnover — medium confidence
Biological pathways
Retinoid metabolism and transport
high confidenceof retinaldehyde to retinoic acid.
Reactome R-HSA-975634
Evidence engine
Insufficient
Not enough curated evidence to characterise this ingredient.
Skinceptor Evidence Index
23
experimental · of 100
This index is a research-navigation aid describing how much evidence exists and how it was produced. It is not a medical safety score, an efficacy guarantee, or a clinical recommendation.
Study composition
- Review2
- Total studies
- 2
- Human studies
- 0
- Largest sample
- Data unavailable
- Range
- 1999–2015
Index breakdown
- Study design quality45% × 28%
Mean design weight across curated studies (meta-analysis 1.0, RCT 0.9, other human 0.7, review 0.45, animal 0.35, in-vitro 0.25).
- Human evidence share0% × 22%
Proportion of curated evidence measured in people rather than cells or animals.
- Evidence volume50% × 14%
Log-scaled count of curated studies, so volume alone cannot dominate the score.
- Largest sample size0% × 12%
Log-scaled largest reported sample size across curated human studies.
- Replication0% × 12%
Independent human studies, capped at three; one study is never treated as replicated.
- Recency45% × 7%
Linear decay over a twenty-year window from the most recent curated publication.
- Source traceability0% × 5%
Share of curated studies with a verified PMID or DOI in this dataset.
Insufficient comparable evidence for quantitative synthesis.
Research timeline
How the evidence accumulated
1999
Retinaldehyde: cutaneous conversion to retinoic acid and tolerability in human skin
Reviewsample size unavailable · Dermatology (review)
2015
Retinoic acid receptor expression and retinoid signalling in human skin
Reviewsample size unavailable · Journal of Investigative Dermatology (review)
Ingredient fingerprint
9 nodes · 9 relationships · seed "retinaldehyde"
The fingerprint is a deterministic visual signature: ridge amplitude comes from the number of entities in each tier, node placement from identifier hashes, and opacity from confidence. Two ingredients can never produce the same figure unless their networks are identical.
Open in Biology as Art →Research
2 curated studies
Retinoic acid receptor expression and retinoid signalling in human skin
Summarises RAR/RXR heterodimer signalling as the transcriptional mechanism of retinoid action in epidermis and dermis.
Limitations — Narrative review; mechanistic focus without effect-size synthesis.
Retinaldehyde: cutaneous conversion to retinoic acid and tolerability in human skin
Summarises evidence that retinaldehyde is oxidised in skin to retinoic acid, with reported tolerability intermediate between retinol and tretinoin.
Limitations — Narrative review; identifier not verified during curation.
Community evidence
Submitted by readers
Reader submissions appear here only after review. They are not part of the curated dataset and do not affect the Skinceptor Evidence Index.
No approved community submissions yet.
Sources
- PubChem 638015Verified 2026-09-14
- UniProt P00352Verified 2026-09-14
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