Abstract:Objective To investigate the correlation between serum vitamin D levels and recurrence in patients with major depression disorder. Methods Twenty patients with first episode of depression, twenty patients with relapse of depression and twenty healthy controls were enrolled in this study. The level of serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D [25(OH)D] was detected in each group. The degree of depression of all patients were assessed with Hamilton Depression Scale (HAMD). We also analyzed the correlation between the serum vitamin D level in patients with first-episode or recurrent MDD and HAMD scores. Results The serum vitamin D concentrations in patients with first-episode and recurrent MDD were significantly lower than those in the healthy controls, while there was no significant difference in serum vitamin D concentrations between patients with recurrent MDD and those with firstepisode MDD. In addition, we found the negative correlation between the serum vitamin D levels and HAMD scores in first-episode and relapsed MDD patients. Conclusions Vitamin D deficiency may be a major cause of MDD and contribute to the recurrence. Therefore, it is necessary to detect and supplement vitamin D for MDD patients in clinical treatment.