title: Vitamin D receptor expression levels determine the severity and complexity of disease progression among leprosy reaction patients.
abstract: We studied the roles of vitamin D and its receptor, VDR, in the progression of leprosy. The majority of individuals with leprosy from Kolkata, India, with a type 1 or type 2 reaction have low levels of vitamin D3 in serum samples. Interestingly, individuals with a type 2 reaction associated with neuritis/erythema nodosum leprosum had very low VDR mRNA expression levels, ranging from 5% to 10%, compared to that of healthy control subjects; these patients also had a high bacilli index, ranging from 3+ to 5+. This is the first report to indicate that VDR expression levels may determine the complexity and severity of the progression of leprosy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, IPGMER, Kolkata, India ; Institute of Genetic Engineering, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mandal
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, IPGMER, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: A H H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Reja
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Biswas
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, IPGMER, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bhattacharyya
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Pt. J. N. M. Medical College, Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India.
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Patra
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, IPGMER, Kolkata, India.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bhattacharya
keywords: Leprosy; vitamin D; vitamin D receptor