In Vivo Efficacy of Histatin-1 in a Rabbit Animal Model.

Unlabelled: Purpose/Aim: Corneal abrasions and nonhealing corneal epithelial defects are common conditions that cause pain and sometimes are slow to heal. Histatins, a family of histidine-rich peptides, have been implicated in oral and skin epithelial wound healing, and have been shown to be effective in vitro in human corneal epithelial cells. The objective of this study was to test the efficacy of histatin-1 on corneal epithelial wound healing in rabbits.

Precision and accuracy of TearLab osmometer in measuring osmolarity of salt solutions.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the inherent precision and accuracy of TearLab Osmolarity System using salt solutions, including solutions of very high osmolarity (>360 mOsm/L).

Materials And Methods: Ten salt solutions with osmolarity between 286 mOsm/L and 394 mOsm/L (increments of 12 mOsm/L) plus an additional solution of 400 mOsm/L were tested twice on both the TearLab osmometer and a freezing point depression osmometer. For precision, we compared the two repeated osmolarity measurements of 11 solutions obtained from TearLab.

Tear cytokine profile as a noninvasive biomarker of inflammation for ocular surface diseases: standard operating procedures.

Purpose: To provide standard operating procedures (SOPs) for measuring tear inflammatory cytokine concentrations and to validate the resulting profile as a minimally invasive objective metric and biomarker of ocular surface inflammation for use in multicenter clinical trials on dry eye disease (DED).

Methods: Standard operating procedures were established and then validated with cytokine standards, quality controls, and masked tear samples collected from local and distant clinical sites. The concentrations of the inflammatory cytokines in tears were quantified using a high-sensitivity human cytokine multiplex kit.

Red blood cell fatty acid analysis for determining compliance with omega3 supplements in dry eye disease trials.

Purpose: To evaluate pill counts and red blood cell (RBC) membrane fatty acid profiles as measures of compliance with oral omega3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω3 PUFAs) and to compare the two techniques.

Methods: Sixteen dry eye disease subjects were given oral ω3 PUFA or placebo for 3 months. Compliance was measured by pill counts and blood tests at baseline and 3 months.

Emerging drugs for the treatment of dry eye disease.

Introduction: Dry eye disease (DED) is a common, age-related ocular condition that in its mildest forms causes bothersome symptoms of ocular discomfort, fatigue, and visual disturbance that interfere with quality of life and in its more severe forms causes chronic pain and fluctuating vision. Though it is highly prevalent and costs billions of dollars to manage, current treatments have largely been inadequate, making it a frustrating condition, both for physicians and patients alike.

Areas Covered: This article will cover the recently discovered pathophysiology of DED that has prompted investigators to explore new molecules that target the core mechanisms that drive DED.

HLA-DR expression as a biomarker of inflammation for multicenter clinical trials of ocular surface disease.

There are currently no validated minimally invasive objective metrics for the classification and evaluation of ocular surface diseases and/or for evaluating treatment efficacy. We thus sought to establish a standardized methodology for determining the relative amount of the inflammatory biomarker HLA-DR on the ocular surface and to evaluate the precision, reliability and repeatability of its use for large multicenter clinical trials and translational research studies of ocular surface disease. Multiple studies were conducted to establish a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for utilizing HLA-DR expression as a minimally invasive, objective, ocular surface inflammatory biomarker.