Abstract
BackgroundThe eye's unique anatomy and its physiological and anatomical barriers can limit effective drug delivery into the eye.MethodsAn in vivo study was designed to determine the effectiveness and safety of ultrasound application in enhancing drug delivery in a rabbit model. Permeability of a steroid ophthalmic drug, dexamethasone sodium phosphate, was investigated in ultrasound- and sham-treated cases. For this study, an eye cup filled with dexamethasone sodium phosphate was placed on the cornea. Ultrasound was applied at intensity of 0.8 W/cm2 and frequency of 400 or 600 kHz for 5 min. The drug concentration in aqueous humor samples, collected 90 min after the treatment, was determined using chromatography methods. Light microscopy observations were done to determine the structural changes in the cornea as a result of ultrasound application.ResultsAn increase in drug concentration in aqueous humor samples of 2.8 times (p < 0.05) with ultrasound application at 400 kHz and 2.4 times (p < 0.01) with ultrasound application at 600 kHz was observed as compared to sham-treated samples. Histological analysis showed that the structural changes in the corneas exposed to ultrasound predominantly consisted of minor epithelial disorganization.ConclusionsUltrasound application enhanced the delivery of an anti-inflammatory ocular drug, dexamethasone sodium phosphate, through the cornea in vivo. Ultrasound-enhanced ocular drug delivery appears to be a promising area of research with a potential future application in a clinical setting.
Highlights
The eye's unique anatomy and its physiological and anatomical barriers can limit effective drug delivery into the eye
One of the main goals for this study is to investigate the effectiveness of using ultrasound in ocular drug delivery and get some preliminary information regarding safety of ultrasound application
Ultrasound may be used as an effective tool to enhance ocular drug delivery
Summary
The eye's unique anatomy and its physiological and anatomical barriers can limit effective drug delivery into the eye. Topical administration of drugs into the eye is convenient, common, and well accepted by patients [9,11] This method is highly inefficient because only 1%–5% of the applied ocular drug penetrate to the desired ocular site [11,12]. Intravitreal and periocular injections are some of the invasive methods of ocular drug delivery, which are used to avoid inefficient topical and systemic processes. These methods have their own side effects including infection and cataract formation [3]. Injectable biodegradable implants in the forms of rods, plugs, discs, or sheets have been proposed for ocular drug delivery; this approach is expected to have low patient compliance due to its invasive nature [21]
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