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Albumin viable as treatment for ocular surface disorders, study suggests
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Using albumin as a protein supplement in artificial tear solutions may provide an option to treat ocular surface disorders associated with tear deficiency, according to animal and human studies.
Shigeto Shimmura, MD, and colleagues at Tokyo Dental College tested the efficacy of albumin tear supplements as a substitute for serum eye drops. The researchers inflicted corneal erosions in 40 rabbit eyes. The eyes were then treated with 5% or 10% solutions of human albumin or with saline solution control or 0.3% sodium hyaluronate. The sizes of the epithelial defects were compared after treatment.
The addition of albumin to serum increased cell viability and inhibited the activity of caspase-3, an enzyme related to apoptosis. Rabbit eyes treated with 10% albumin healed significantly faster (P < .05) compared to control eyes.
The researchers also used 5% albumin drops in nine patients with Sjogren’s syndrome with severe dry eye. The patients showed significant improvement in rose bengal and fluorescein scores, but not in tear breakup time or subjective symptoms. No adverse effects of albumin were observed in the study.
The study is published in the October issue of British Journal of Ophthalmology.