Efficacy of the combination of cyclosporine and sodium hyaluronate eye drops on dry eye syndrome

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and adverse effect of cyclosporine combined with sodium hyaluronate (SH) eye drops on dry eye syndrome (DES). Methods: 148 patients with DES treated in Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital Group Suqian Hospital, Jiangsu Province, China between January 2022 and February 2023 were randomly assigned to control (70 cases) and study groups (78 cases). Control group was treated with SH eye drop (1 drop each on both eyes 5 - 6 times a day, for 2 months), while study group was treated with both SH (the same dosage and use with control group) and cyclosporine eye drop (1 - 2 drops each for both eyes, 4 - 6 times a day, for two months). Tear film stability indices such as schirmer I test (SIT), tear break-up time (BUT) and corneal fluorescein stain (FL) of both groups were analyzed before and after therapy. Results: There was no significant difference in BUT, SIT and FL score between the two groups before treatment. Compared with before treatment, BUT and SIT increased significantly (p < 0.05), while FL score dropped significantly in both groups after treatment (p < 0.05). After treatment, study group showed significantly higher BUT and SIT levels, and significantly lower FL score than control group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The combination of cyclosporine eye drops with SH eye drops is effective in treating DES. This combination regimen protects tear film stability, effectively alleviates DES symptoms, improves ocular surface and meibomian gland function, and also increases lacrimal river height, without increasing adverse reactions. Further studies will be required, to provide more evidence for clinical application of this combination regimen.