Rebamipide clear solutions show potential in dry eye disease

Rebamipide clear solutions demonstrated their effectiveness in treating dry eye disease (DED) over a 12-week period, according to a study.

In the study, 220 patients with DED were divided randomly into 3 groups: the 1% rebamipide group, the 2% rebamipide group, and the placebo group, with each group using their assigned eye drops 4 times a day throughout the study.

The primary measures of efficacy were changes in tear film break-up time (TBUT), corneal and conjunctival staining scores, Schirmer 1 test results, and the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) scores.

Both the 1% and 2% rebamipide groups exhibited substantial improvements in TBUT at the 12-week mark, demonstrating increases of 1.99 seconds and 2.02 seconds respectively, in contrast to the placebo group which saw an improvement of only 1.25 seconds. The 2% rebamipide group exhibited greater improvement in corneal staining scores (-3.15) compared to the placebo group (-2.85).

In terms of tear production, both rebamipide groups displayed enhancements in Schirmer 1 test results at the 12-week interval, registering increases of 1.27 mm and 1.50 mm respectively. The placebo group recorded a more modest improvement of 0.55 mm. Notably, all groups, including the placebo, showed significant improvement in OSDI scores after the 12-week treatment period, although no notable difference was observed among the 3 groups.

Reference
Eom Y, Chung SH, Chung TY, et al. Efficacy and safety of 1% and 2% rebamipide clear solution in dry eye disease: a multicenter randomized trial. BMC Ophthalmol. 2023;23(1):343. doi: 10.1186/s12886-023-03004-1. PMID: 37537533; PMCID: PMC10398964.