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[Press Release] Professor Inchan Kwon infuses contact lenses with vitamins for glaucoma treatment for significant drug absorption and therapeutic effect
- 엘리스 리
- REG_DATE : 2016.11.16
- HIT : 961
Professor Inchan Kwon infuses contact lenses with vitamins for glaucoma
treatment for significant drug absorption and therapeutic effect
(Image 1). Comparison of fluorescence intensities of contact lenses injected with fluorescent dye. The hydrophilic fluorescent dyes with excellent optical properties were used as a substitute for drugs to confirm the increase of the molecular bearing capacity of contact lenses when vitamins were present. (C) Injection of a fluorescent dye in a solution in which vitamin E and a fluorescent dye are present together. (D) Fluorescent dye injection in solution in which vitamin A and fluorescent dye coexist.
The Korea Research Foundation announced that researchers at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST • President Seung Hyeon Moon) have developed contact lenses for glaucoma treatment, which have improved drug delivery efficiency by adding vitamins to soft contact lenses.
□ Glaucoma is an eye disease caused by the pressure of the optic nerve caused by the elevation of the intraocular pressure. Glaucoma medications are administered to lower elevated intraocular pressure. However, drugs in the form of eye drops are not easy to administer regularly and are easily diluted by tears. Drug delivery therapy through contact lenses is being studied to solve these problems.
° Soft contact lenses sold on the market are made of hydrophilic hydrogel and are suitable for containing drugs. This is because the three-dimensional net composed of the hydrophilic chains in the hydrogel absorbs and stores the drug. When a contact lens is worn, the drug placed in the tear environment of the ocular surface is released into the eye to be absorbed into the eyeball immediately.
° However, the amount of drug absorption with general contact lenses is limited. In order to solve this problem, studies have been made to increase the amount of drug absorption by supplementing the contact lenses with other components. However, when a new material is added to the existing contact lens manufacturing process, the production cost increases, which causes the unit price of the therapeutic contact lens to also increase.
□ In response, Professor Inchan Kwon (correspondent author) and master"s student Dasom Lee led the development of contact lenses for vitamin E and vitamin A, which have a high degree of biocompatibility with pHEMA * .
* PHEMA: Poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), a polymer used as the main material of soft contact lenses.
The team increased the drug injection efficiency by simply adding vitamins during the drug injection step. The added vitamins A and E stick to each other in the lens to form a surface. This structured surface absorbs more glaucoma medications and allows them to remain longer. The glaucoma drug required for these lenses can be used as an economical therapeutic contact lens * in a quantity that is 20% less than that required for normal contact lenses.
* Glaucoma drug (timolol) used in this study is 660,000 won per gram, while vitamin E is 1,500 won per gram, which is very inexpensive.
The added vitamins also maximize the therapeutic effect of glaucoma with its own eye protection. Vitamin A is effective in the prevention and treatment of dry eye syndrome. Vitamin E has antioxidant and UV-blocking properties and is mainly used for helping wounds to heal.
Professor Inchan Kwon said, "Therapeutic contact lenses will become one of the next-generation therapies for effectively treating eye diseases that require continuous medication, such as glaucoma. This study shows that therapeutic contact lenses are one step closer to commercialization."
□ The results of this research, which was supported by the Korea Research Foundation, were submitted to the Scientific Reports on September 28, 2016.