Reduced frequency of topical cyclosporine dosage after 1 year suppresses dry eye disease

Cornea. 2011;30(10):1098-1104

Patients being treated with twice-daily topical cyclosporine for dry eye disease may find similar results by cutting the dosage in half after 1 year of treatment, a study found.

The prospective, randomized, single-masked, parallel-group comparison followed 100 patients who used Restasis (topical cyclosporine 0.05%, Allergan) twice a day for more than 1 year. Fifty participants continued with a twice-daily dosage, while the other 50 decreased the dosage to once per day.

Dry eye variables were measured at baseline and at 3 and 6 months.

At the end of the study period, tear break-up time improved from 3.11 seconds at baseline to 4.13 seconds (P = .0003) for the reduced dosage group. Lissamine green staining score improved from 6.51 at baseline to 4.42 at the study's conclusion (P = .024) for the reduced dosage group.

Seven patients in the reduced dosage group had to resume twice-daily doses during the study because of worsening dry eye symptoms.

"Our findings demonstrate that the majority of patients with dry eye already controlled with [topical cyclosporine] twice daily for at least 1 year can maintain suppression of disease and even show continued improvement after decreasing to [topical cyclosporine] once daily," the study authors said.