01368nas a2200229   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001200055653001000067653001400077653002400091653001400115100001300129700001300142700001300155700001900168700001200187700001900199245013400218856017100352520061500523       2015                            d  bElsevier10aleprosy10aIndia10aReactions10aDisease Progression10aVitamin D1 aMandal D1 aReja AHH1 aBiswas N1 aBhattacharya P1 aPatra P1 aBhattacharya B00aVitamin D receptor expression levels determine the severity and complexity of disease progression among leprosy reaction patients  uhttp://ac.els-cdn.com/S2052297515000311/1-s2.0-S2052297515000311-main.pdf?_tid=d70be25a-e81b-11e4-a261-00000aab0f6b&acdnat=1429616879_d1ca66ece5eccc3cd56a7be75dbd54293 a<p>We studied the role of Vitamin D and its receptor (VDR) in leprosy disease progression. Majority of the individuals from Kolkata, India with type-I or type-II reaction have low levels of Vitamin D3 in serum. Interestingly, individuals with type II reaction associated with neuritis/ENL have very low VDR mRNA expression levels ranging from 5% to 10% only to that of the healthy control samples and this patients also have high bacilli index ranging from 3+ to 5+. This is the first report implicating that VDR expression levels may determine the complexity and severity of leprosy disease progression.</p>