Background: We sought to investigate visual function, primarily, and structural changes in retinal ganglion cells, secondarily, in patients with major depressive disorder.
Methods: A total of 50 normal participants and 49 patients with major depressive disorder were included in this cross-sectional study. The participants underwent 24-2 standard automated perimetry and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.
Results: The pattern standard deviation (PSD) in the visual field test was higher in the major depressive disorder patients than in the normal control subjects (P = 0.017). The patients with major depressive disorder showed reduced minimum ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness relative to the normal control participants (P = 0.015). The average score on the Hamilton Depression Rating scale showed a significant correlation with the PSD, minimum GCIPL thickness, and inferior GCIPL thickness (r = 0.265, P = 0.009; r = -0.239, P = 0.017; and r = -0.204, P = 0.043, respectively). The multivariate analysis of factors associated with PSD showed old age and a high Hamilton Depression Rating score to be relevant (P = 0.002 and 0.028, respectively).
Conclusions: Visual function was decreased and the GCIPL thickness was reduced in major depressive disorder patients. The retinal neurodegenerative process in depression might be considered in patients with depression.
Keywords: depression; neurodegeneration; optic nerve; retina; retinal ganglion cell; visual field.