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Prototype contact lens releases studied molecules, inhibits bacteria in testing

Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2009;50(7):3346-3352.

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A prototype contact lens that could act as an ocular drug delivery system showed successful extended and controlled release of studied molecules over a 4-week period, a study found.

"A prototype contact lens for sustained drug release consisting of a thin drug-PLGA film coated with pHEMA could be used as a platform for ocular drug delivery with widespread therapeutic applications," the study authors said.

In testing, the lens had a "brief and minimal initial burst" that was followed by controlled release of molecules over 4 weeks with "zero-order release kinetics under infinite sink conditions," they said.

The lens was created from coating poly[lactic-co-glycolic acid] (PLGA) films with test compounds and poly[hydroxyethyl methacrylate] (pHEMA) through ultraviolet light polymerization.

"The rate of drug release was controlled by changing either the ratio of drug to PLGA or the molecular mass of the PLGA used," the authors said. "Both the PLGA and the pHEMA affected release kinetics. Ciprofloxacin released from the contact lenses inhibited ciprofloxacin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus at all time-points tested."