Dry eyes is a common disorder experienced by 5 to 50% of the world population. In Canada, every one out of five people is affected by dry eyes, which translates into more than 6 million Canadian adults. [1] The symptoms of dry eyes, are far from desired – stressful and lowering the quality of life. [2]
For dry eye relief, one of the very first steps is using lubricating eye drops that moisturize the eyes to make up for the lack of tear, followed by lid hygiene and warm compresses of various types. [3] But there are many types of lubricants used in eye drops. Even if the ingredients may appear the same, the quality and efficacy of the eye drops may differ. Let’s take a closer look at which lubricant would benefit your patients the most.
What are some common lubricants in eye drops?
Eye drops contain lubricants that enhance the viscosity of the solutions and thereby provide long-lasting relief. Traditionally, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC), and glycerine, which were of natural source or synthetic, were commonly used as lubricants to increase tear film thickness, retain water, and protect the eye surface. [3]
But, conventional lubricating eye drops often contain preservatives that actually further irritate the eyes and worsen dry eye symptoms. After attempts to discover even better lubricants, most modern lubricants now use sodium hyaluronate as its active lubricant.
Sodium hyaluronate, also known as hyaluron and hyaluronic acid, is made of many small sugar molecules and is naturally found in connective tissues and eyes of the human body. [4,5] Sodium hyaluronate has several key effects as a lubricant:
Retention of water for hydration [6]
High viscosity for long-lasting lubrication [7]
High elasticity to resist shear stress during eyelid movement [7]
Unique Properties of High-Quality Sodium Hyaluronate
Did you know that not all sodium hyaluronate are equal? Interestingly, the properties of sodium hyaluronate are driven by the length of its molecular chain. The longer the chain, the higher the molecular weight and thus resulting in a higher quality. High-quality sodium hyaluronate has high viscosity and suppresses inflammation, unlike low-quality sodium hyaluronate that has opposite properties of low viscosity and promoting inflammation. [8] The high viscosity, determined by high concentration and quality of sodium hyaluronate, provides long-lasting lubricating effects. The anti-inflammatory property of high-quality sodium hyaluronate is also particularly important for dry eye relief, as inflammation is one of many events that lead to dry eyes.
High-quality sodium hyaluronate offers additional, unique benefits that low-quality sodium hyaluronate does not offer:
Regeneration of corneal nerves [9,10]
Inhibition of new vessel formation [11]
Reduction of cell death [12,13]
Knowing the differences that high-quality sodium hyaluronate makes, you may want to find lubricating eye drops with the highest quality sodium hyaluronate. Here is where you can find them.
Why HYLO® is unique?
HYLO® family of lubricating eye drops contain high-quality sodium hyaluronate for long-lasting lubrication and hydration of dry eyes. Thanks to the top German-engineered technology, HYLO® family of lubricating eye drops is preservative-free and phosphate-free, bringing soothing and non-irritating dry eye relief experience, one drop at a time.
HYLO® family of lubricating eye drops are available for healthcare professionals and patients across Canada. Try now and feel the difference!
CandorVision™ - Your Eyes Are Everything.
References
Caffery B, Srinivasan S, Reaume CJ, Fischer A, Cappadocia D, Siffel C, Chan CC. Prevalence of dry eye disease in Ontario, Canada: A population-based survey. Ocul Surf. 2019 Jul;17(3):526-531. doi: 10.1016/j.jtos.2019.02.011. Epub 2019 Feb 27. PMID: 30825521.
Paulsen AJ, Cruickshanks KJ, Fischer ME, Huang GH, Klein BE, Klein R, Dalton DS. Dry eye in the beaver dam offspring study: prevalence, risk factors, and health-related quality of life. Am J Ophthalmol. 2014 Apr;157(4):799-806.
Jones L, Downie LE, Korb D, Benitez-Del-Castillo JM, Dana R, Deng SX, Dong PN, Geerling G, Hida RY, Liu Y, Seo KY, Tauber J, Wakamatsu TH, Xu J, Wolffsohn JS, Craig JP. TFOS DEWS II Management and Therapy Report. Ocul Surf. 2017 Jul;15(3):575-628.
Silvani L, Bedei A, De Grazia G & Remiddi S (2020): Arabinogalactan and hyaluronic acid in ophthalmic solution: experimental effect on xanthine oxidoreductase complex as key player in ocular inflammation (in vitro study). Exp Eye Res 196: 108058
Posarelli C, Passani A, Del Re M, Fogli S, Toro MD, Ferreras A & Figus M (2019): Cross‐linked hyaluronic acid as tear film substitute. J Ocul Pharmacol Ther 35: 381–387
Hargittai, I., Hargittai, M. Molecular structure of hyaluronan: an introduction. Struct Chem 19, 697–717 (2008).
Chernos M, Grecov D, Kwok E, Bebe S, Babsola O & Anastassiades T (2017): Rheological study of hyaluronic acid derivatives. Biomed Eng Lett 7: 17–24
Snetkov P, Zakharova K, Morozkina S, Olekhnovich R & Uspenskaya M (2020): Hyaluronic acid: The influence of molecular weight on structural, physical, Physico‐chemical, and degradable properties of biopolymer. Polymers (Basel) 12: 1800. 1)
Pauloin T, Dutot M, Warnet JM, Rat P. In vitro modulation of preservative toxicity: high molecular weight hyaluronan decreases apoptosis and oxidative stress induced by benzalkonium chloride. Eur J Pharm Sci. 2008 Aug 7;34(4-5):263-73.
Pauloin T, Dutot M, Joly F, Warnet JM, Rat P. High molecular weight hyaluronan decreases UVB-induced apoptosis and inflammation in human epithelial corneal cells. Mol Vis. 2009;15:577-83.
Kojima T, Nagata T, Kudo H, Müller-Lierheim WGK, van Setten GB, Dogru M, Tsubota K. The Effects of High Molecular Weight Hyaluronic Acid Eye Drop Application in Environmental Dry Eye Stress Model Mice. Int J Mol Sci. 2020 May 15;21(10):3516.
Preston M, Sherman LS. Neural stem cell niches: roles for the hyaluronan-based extracellular matrix. Front Biosci (Schol Ed). 2011 Jun 1;3(3):1165-79.
Van Setten, GB et al., J ClinMed 2020; 9, 3790 und J ClinMed 2020; 9, 3536.