Abstract
Diquafosol promotes secretion of tear fluid and mucin at the ocular surface and is administered for treatment of dry eye (DE). Tear film lipid layer is secreted from meibomian glands and stabilizes the tear film. We recently showed that diquafosol administration increased lipid layer thickness (LLT) for up to 60 min in normal human eyes. We here evaluated tear film lipid layer in DE patients (n = 47) with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) before as well as 30, 60, and 90 min after diquafosol administration. One drop of artificial tears or one drop of diquafosol was applied randomly to the eyes of each patient. Diquafosol significantly increased LLT at 30 (P < 0.001) and 60 (P = 0.042) min and noninvasive tear film breakup time for at least 90 min (P < 0.001 at each assessment point). Artificial tears had no such effect. Diquafosol significantly improved the tear interferometric pattern compared with artificial tears (P < 0.001 at each assessment point). A single topical administration of diquafosol thus improved LLT and tear film stability in DE patients with MGD, suggesting that diquafosol is a potential treatment not only for aqueous-deficient DE but also for evaporative DE associated with MGD.
Highlights
Tear film instability is thought to be an important contributor to visual impairment and other symptoms associated with dry eye (DE)[1,2]
No significant differences were apparent for baseline ocular objective findings between the eyes selected for diquafosol administration and those selected for artificial tear administration (47 eyes in each group) by the Wilcoxon signed-rank test or chi-square test (Table 1)
Our study investigated the efficacy of single-drop administration of diquafosol and artificial tears on the lipid layer of the tear film in DE patients with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) with the use of qualitative and quantitative interferometry
Summary
Tear film instability is thought to be an important contributor to visual impairment and other symptoms associated with dry eye (DE)[1,2]. NIBUT was shown to be shorter in eyes with MGD than in healthy eyes[10] as well as to be inversely correlated with the extent of meibomian gland loss[22]. These various findings have indicated that improvement in both LLT and tear film stability is an important goal for the treatment of DE patients with MGD. Diquafosol instillation for 3 months was shown to reduce the meibum score and meibomian gland loss, with an increase in LLT being apparent at 20 min after instillation, in eyes with DE and MGD37. Using qualitative and quantitative tear interferometry, we have studied the effects of diquafosol instillation on the lipid layer of the tear film in DE patients with MGD
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
