Comparison between topical cyclosporine A 0.05% and oral antioxidant in the treatment of dry eye disease

Abstract

Background Dry eye disease is a multifactorial ocular pathology characterized by corneal epithelial lesions, inflammation of ocular surface, and symptoms of discomfort, including irritation, itching, and burning eyes. Aim The aim of this work is to compare the effect of both topical cyclosporine A 0.05% and oral antioxidant with the preservative-free artificial tears in the treatment of dry eye. Patients and methods This is a prospective randomized comparative cross-sectional study that included 180 eyes. Schirmer I test, break-up time test (BUT), corneal fluorescein staining score, and impression cytology grade were done. Results The results showed that there was no significant difference between the cyclosporine and the antioxidant groups after 3 months of treatment in terms of BUT (P=0.245), corneal fluorescein staining score (P=0.9052), and impression cytology grade (P=0.526), and they were significantly different in terms of (P=0.012). In the preservative-free group, although there were highly significant improvements in schirmer I test, BUT, corneal fluorescein staining, and impression cytology grade after 3 months of treatment, the cyclosporine and the antioxidant groups showed highly significant improvement than the preservative-free group. Conclusion Both topical cyclosporine A 0.05% and oral antioxidant treatments are effective for the treatment of dry eye disorder. However, cyclosporine has better results.