Therapeutic Contact Lenses for Corneal Disease

Voiceover

Presenter(s)

Dien Thinh Nguyen

Abstract or Description

Corneal melting, a severe ocular disorder marked by the degradation of corneal tissue, poses a significant risk of vision loss and necessitates innovative treatments. A study was conducted to explore the development of therapeutic contact lenses utilizing hydrogels, aimed at mitigating matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) activity, which is critical to the progression of corneal melting. MMPs are zinc-dependent enzymes, that play a pivotal role in the breakdown of corneal tissue. The study focuses on the synthesis of hydrogels incorporated with zinc-chelating agents, such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (DTPA), conjugated with poly(2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate) (pHEMA) to inhibit MMPs activity. Hydrogels with varying initiator concentrations were created to determine which achieves optimal zinc absorption—a key factor in MMP inhibition. The results indicate that hydrogels with a 75% initiator concentration exhibit the highest porosity and highest zinc absorption. This suggests that greater surface area in hydrogel can increase the ability to absorb zinc. Comparative analysis showed no statistically significant difference in the zinc absorption between EDTA and DTPA-conjugated hydrogels, suggesting similar efficacy. The potential application of these hydrogels in producing therapeutic contact lenses could significantly reduce the need for more invasive treatments and decrease healthcare costs. Furthermore, understanding and controlling MMP activity could also impact other health areas, such as tumor suppression and metastasis inhibition. Future studies will continue to refine the hydrogel formulations and assess their clinical efficacy in treating corneal melting and potentially other MMPs-related conditions.

Mentor

Jung-Jae Lee, PhD