{"id":35520,"date":"2018-12-24T12:58:18","date_gmt":"2018-12-24T17:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencebusiness.technewslit.com\/?p=35520"},"modified":"2018-12-24T12:58:18","modified_gmt":"2018-12-24T17:58:18","slug":"eye-drops-reverse-infected-eye-scarring","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/technewslit.com\/sciencebusiness\/?p=35520","title":{"rendered":"Eye Drops Reverse Infected Eye Scarring"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Eyes<\/a>
(Tookapic, Pexels)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

24 Dec. 2018. Eye drops containing a therapeutic protein and applied as a gel, are shown in lab mice to remove scar tissue from the surface of infected or damaged corneas. A team from University of Birmingham in the U.K. and University of California in Irvine describe their research in Friday’s issue of the journal NPJ Regenerative Medicine<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Materials scientists and medical researchers from the Birmingham labs of chemical engineering professor Liam Grover<\/a> and ophthalmology professor Ann Logan<\/a> are seeking better treatments for scarring and inflammation of the cornea. Scar tissue on the cornea results from trauma to the eye and infections, often in extended-wear contact lenses not worn as prescribed. Infections in the cornea can be caused by a number of microbes, but Pseudomonas aeruginosa<\/i> bacteria are among the most frequently cited. World Health Organization<\/a> says corneal impairments are the fourth leading cause of blindness in the world, with an estimated 1.5 to 2 million cases each year.<\/p>\n

The team led by medical researcher and materials scientist Lisa Hill<\/a> developed a treatment for cornea scarring with decorin<\/a>, a natural protein with the ability to reverse fibrosis and inflammation from scars. However, the treatments need a way of remaining in the eye for extended periods for decorin to work. Their answer is a gel formulation of synthesized decorin, which remains on the eye’s surface. But the gel then liquefies with blinking, which breaks down the loose matrix of the gel.<\/p>\n

Hill and colleagues, including associates at University of California in Irvine where she previously served as a visiting scholar<\/a>, tested their gel-liquid decorin eye drops in lab mice induced with corneal infections called Pseudomonas<\/i>\u00a0keratitis<\/i><\/a>. The results show the treatments reduced scarring in the corneas within 16 days. Not only did the treatments reduce scar tissue, they also encouraged reconstitution of healthy cornea cells.<\/p>\n

“The anti-scarring eye drop has the potential to vastly improve outcomes for patients with eye infection and trauma,” says Hill in a university statement<\/a>. “It could also help save many people\u2019s sight, particularly in the developing world where surgical interventions such as corneal transplants are not available.”<\/p>\n

University of Birmingham is securing a patent on the technology. Hill’s web page says human clinical trials of decorin fluid gels could begin next year.<\/p>\n

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