The Correlation Between Rat Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness Around Optic Disc By Using Optical Coherence Tomography And Histological Measurements

Objective:To explore the correlation between the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness around optic disc by using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and that by histological measurements in normal adult rats and optic nerve transection group rats.Methods:Thirty six rats (20rats in normal group and16rats in optic nerve transection groups, which include4groups by survival time1,3,5and7days after optic nerve transection,4rats per group) were used in the present study. The RNFL thickness in the area with the optic papilla as the center and3.46mm as diameter was scanned by OCT. Then the RNFL thickness of the same area was measured by NF-200immunohistochemical staining method. Linear regression was used to analyze the correlation between the data obtained with these two methods.Results:The RNFL thickness of normal right eyes around optic disc by OCT was72.35±5.71μm and that of the left eyes was72.65±5.88μm (p>0.05). The RNFL thickness of the corresponding histological section by immunohistochemistry was37.54±4.05μm (right eyes) and37.38±4.23μm (left eyes)(p>0.05). There was a good correlation between the RNFL thickness measured by OCT and that by histology (R2=0.8131). After optic nerve transection, The RNFL thickness of rats was trend to be thinner with more prolonged survival time. The correlation of the thickness by two methods was closely (R2=0.7964). The RNFL thickness in rats around optic disc measured by OCT was obviously higher than that by common histological measurement in normal adult rats and optic nerve transection rats.Conclusions:The RNFL thickness measured by OCT in our study represents the relative value of the actual RNFL thickness of rats, and the RNFL thickness by OCT has a closely correlation with the results by histological method.