The Antiaging Approach for the Treatment of Dry Eye

Abstract

Dry eye is one of the most common eye disorders affecting millions of people. It causes ocular irritation or discomfort, and decreases functional vision, causing a dramatic deterioration in the quality of life. Although new treatments such as the P2Y2 agonist or cyclosporine eye drops have been developed and a certain level of patient satisfaction can now be obtained, no fundamental treatment has been developed. Currently, there is no therapy available to recover lacrimal function to its normal status. Recent progress in the understanding of aging has laid the foundations for a new way of thinking about intervention of the aging process. Because dry eye is accelerated by aging, a useful approach for the prevention or treatment of dry eye may be to interfere with the aging process. In the scientific community, there is a global consensus that calorie restriction can extend the life span of various kinds of animals, establishing an intervention to aging. Another important hypothesis believed to be involved in aging is the free radical theory. According to these theories, the aging process may be managed by controlling levels of calories or reactive oxygen species. In this review, these 2 important aging theories, calorie restriction and free radical aging, are examined, and we discuss how to apply these theories to the prevention and treatment of dry eye.

Effects of Aging in Dry Eye

“…189 Calorie restriction (CR) without malnutrition has emerged in the 21 st century as a potential strategy to prevent age-related diseases. Although first published in 1935 by McCay and Colleagues, 190 CR has gained interest after studies showing prolonged life span, decreased cardiovascular diseases and incidence of tumors in rodents.…”

Evaluation of oxidative stress levels in the conjunctival epithelium of patients with or without dry eye, and dry eye patients treated with preservative-free hyaluronic acid 0.15 % and vitamin B12 eye drops

“…A close relationship between lipid peroxidation-related membrane damage, protein oxidation, ROS production, and inflammatory processes in dry eye has been observed in patients with Sjögren's syndrome and animal models of dry eye [1,[4][5][6][26][27][28][29][30]. These findings suggest that oxidative stress is likely to be a causative factor in the pathogenesis of dry eye disease.…”

“…Dry eye can be caused by aging, diseases such as Sjögren's syndrome, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, ocular cicatricial pemphigoid, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus, or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and the use of medications including antihistamines, antihypertensive agents, oral contraceptives [2,3]. Environmental factors (pollution, smoke, low humidity, wind) and activities which cause reduced blink rate (including the use of visual display units) also contribute to the development of dry eye [1][2][3].…”

“…Dry eye syndrome, also known as keratoconjunctivitis sicca and xerophthalmia, is a common eye disorder resulting from tear deficiency or excessive evaporation of tears [1][2][3]. Dry eye can be caused by aging, diseases such as Sjögren's syndrome, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, ocular cicatricial pemphigoid, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes mellitus, or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and the use of medications including antihistamines, antihypertensive agents, oral contraceptives [2,3].…”

Cytotoxicity Evaluation of Tear Substitutes Using in vitro System

“…Четыре из семи исследуемых препаратов ( введение Синдром сухого глаза (ССГ) является актуальной проблемой, так как данная патология в настоящее время достаточно широко распространена среди взрослых и детей. По данным ряда исследователей ССГ в последние годы наблюдается у 4-8% подростков, 12-22% лиц старше 40 лет, 30-34% -старше 65 лет [1,2]. Только в США от ССГ страдают более 10 миллионов человек [3].…”