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Can people get carotenemia via retinoids?

Carotenemia, hence the name, is pertaining to carotenoids, the vitamin A found in plants, though I wonder if the retinoid vitamin A found in meat/dairy could also just as easily give you carotenemia. Or is that not how it works?

Answer

Retinol does not get converted to any carotenoid, so it cannot cause carotenemia. You can only get carotenemia (i.e. increased blood levels of carotenoids) by either a) ingesting excessive amounts of carotenoids or b) having a defect in one of the enzymes that converts carotenoids to retinol.