Preservative-free eye drops show promise in dry eye disease in new study

The use of preservative-free 0.4% sodium hyaluronate eye drops (LOF) in different dosage schemes (2, 4, or 6 times a day) showed significant promise in alleviating both clinical parameters and symptoms in patients with mild-to-moderate dry eye disease (DED) after a 1-month treatment, according to a study.

The study, which involved 116 patients with mild-to-moderate DED, saw 111 participants successfully complete the trial. Among these, 67.6% were female, and 65.3% were oral contraceptive users. Patients were randomly assigned to instill LOF drops either 2 times a day (BID), 4 times a day (QID), or 6 times a day (6TD), with each administration spaced at least 3 hours apart, over a 30-day period.

The results demonstrated a significant reduction in Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) scores across all groups by day 30 with 51.4% of treated patients having their OSDI score return to normal values. This recovery rate held steady across the dosage groups (50% for BID, 48.6% for QID, and 55.6% for 6TD).

Improvements were noted in tear break-up time (TBUT), with 50.5% of patients experiencing an increase to over 10 seconds. The distribution was 39.5% for BID, 51.4% for QID, and 61.1% for 6TD. In addition, ocular surface staining showed an improvement, with over 72% of patients achieving Grade 0.

There were no notable distinctions between the different posology groups in terms of ocular surface staining, conjunctival hyperemia, or safety parameters. However, for 31 patients, consisting of 21 females and 71.4% oral contraceptive users, no overall improvement in OSDI and TBUT to normal values was observed.

Reference
Muñoz-Villegas PDC, Sánchez-Ríos A, Olvera-Montaño O. The Effect of Sodium Hyaluronate Eye Drops 2, 4 or 6 Times a Day on Signs and Symptoms of Dry Eye Disease. Clin Ophthalmol. 2023;17:2945-2955. doi: 10.2147/OPTH.S433709. PMID: 37822327; PMCID: PMC10563771.