Impact of dry eye disease treatment on patient quality of life.

Dry eye disease (DED) is a common multifactorial disease affecting a substantial proportion of the population worldwide. Objective tests and subjective symptoms evaluation are necessary to assess DED. Although various treatments have been introduced, accurately evaluating the efficacy of those treatments is difficult because of the disparity between diagnostic tests and patient-reported symptoms. We reviewed the questionnaires used to evaluate DED and the improvements of quality of life with various treatments. In addition, we highlighted the importance of patient-reported outcomes (PRO) assessments for evaluating the effect of DED treatments. Given that the assessment of DED treatment effectiveness substantially relies on individual ocular experiences, acquiring qualitative PRO data is essential for comprehensive evaluation and optimal treatment management. Clinicians should not only focus on improving objective symptoms but also prioritize the well-being of patients in clinical management.

Injectable cross-linked hyaluronic acid hydrogels with epigallocatechin gallate loading as vitreous substitutes.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) serves as a vitreous substitute owing to its ability to mimic the physical functions of native vitreous humor. However, pure HA hydrogels alone do not provide sufficient protection against potential inflammatory risks following vitrectomy. In this study, HA was crosslinked with 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether (BDDE) to form HA hydrogels (HB). Subsequently, the anti-inflammatory agent epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) was added to the hydrogel (HBE) for ophthalmic applications as a vitreous substitute. The characterization results indicated the successful preparation of HB with transparency, refractive index, and osmolality similar to those of native vitreous humor, and with good injectability. The anti-inflammatory ability of HBE was also confirmed by the reduced expression of inflammatory genes in retinal pigment epithelial cells treated with HBE compared with those treated with HB. In a New Zealand white rabbit model undergoing vitreous substitution treatment, HBE 50 (EGCG 50 µM addition) exhibited positive results at 28 days post-surgery. These outcomes included restored intraocular pressure, improved electroretinogram responses, minimal increase in corneal thickness, and no inflammation during histological examination. This study demonstrated the potential of an injectable HA-BDDE cross-linked hydrogel containing EGCG as a vitreous substitute for vitrectomy applications, offering prolonged degradation time and anti-inflammatory effects postoperatively.