Researchers have developed a design for ocular inserts which will allow more antibiotics to be released into a patient’s cornea than currently possible through drops or creams.
Researchers at the Pharmacy Department of the CEU Cardenal Herrera University published the bioadhesive ocular insert design in the international journal Drug Delivery and Translational Research. The insert will be placed inside the eyelid where it will release a larger amount of medicine through the cornea in a controlled way.
The insert was specifically developed for the ocular administration of the antibiotic moxifloxacin, which is applied in cases of bacterial infections of the eyes such as corneal queratitis or bacterial endophthalmitis.
Soluble Insert Instead of An Injection
The authors of the study explained, “when we apply cream or drops in the eyes, eyeball defense mechanisms, such as tears, are triggered, which dilutes the applied medicine. Sometimes, less than 5 per cent of the medicine administered in this way manages to penetrate the eye in an effective way. Therefore, pharmaceutical research aims to develop ocular inserts, very thin cylinders or discs made of bioadhesive polymeric materials, which adapt to the shape of the eye and release the medicine through the cornea in a controlled manner.”
Research performed at the CEU UCH has developed and analysed the efficiency of different types of inserts, using bioadhesive polymers with different physicochemical characteristics to compare them to discover which one could obtain the optimal degree of permeability to administer moxifloxacin. The research has made it possible to develop a very thin, practically transparent insert which is easily adhered to the ocular mucosa, providing larger concentrations of moxifloxacin through the cornea than other administration formats currently commercialised, such as orally.
According to the CEU UCH research team, “the ocular release of moxifloxacin with this insert would make for an improved treatment of some ocular illnesses such as bacterial endophthalmitis, an infection of the eyeball which can appear after suffering a wound or as a complication following intraocular surgery. It can also be used for treating corneal queratitis, an infection of the cornea which causes inflammation and can leave a leucoma or scar as a result. In both types of infection, vision can become severely compromised without the appropriate treatment.”
The development of this ocular insert to administer moxifloxacin opens new treatment possibilities for ocular infections.
