Insulin eye drops show potential for dry eye disease

The use of insulin eye drops shows significant promise as a treatment for dry eye disease, particularly in cases where the epithelial damage is refractory to other treatments, according to a study.

The study included 16 patients (32 eyes), with confirmed diagnosis of dry eye disease with epithelial damage who consented to the off-label use of topical insulin. Additionally, 71% of patients were concurrently treated with autologous serum, and 63% received cyclosporine.

At baseline, patients reported an average symptom score of 3.4 ± 1.3 (on a scale of 0 to 5), with a mean hyperemia score of 1.0 ± 0.9 (ranging from 0 to 3) and a corneal staining score of 2.5 ± 1.3 (ranging from 0 to 5).

After 3 months of treatment, significant improvements were observed, with 31% of patients reported feeling “much better,” and 38% feeling “better.” Additionally, 19% reported feeling “slightly better,” and 13% indicated no significant change. The mean symptom score decreased to 2.3 ± 1.0 (ranging from 1 to 4), indicating a statistically significant change (P = 0.001).

Both conjunctival hyperemia and corneal staining exhibited marked reductions. Hyperemia scores decreased to 0.3 ± 0.4 (ranging from 0 to 1), and corneal staining scores dropped to 1.1 ± 1.0 (ranging from 0 to 3).

There were no reported adverse events among the participants.

Reference
Burgos-Blasco B, Diaz-Valle D, Rego-Lorca D, et al. Topical insulin, a novel corneal epithelial regeneration agent in dry eye disease. Eur J Ophthalmol. 2023;11206721231206790. doi: 10.1177/11206721231206790. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37814519.