In vitro and in vivo performance of epinastine hydrochloride-releasing contact lenses

PLoS One. 2019 Jan 30;14(1):e0210362. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0210362. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

A number of drug-releasing contact lenses are currently being studied to address issues inherent in eye drops as a drug delivery method. In this study, we developed epinastine hydrochloride-releasing daily soft contact lenses for treatment of allergic conjunctivitis and examined their in vitro and in vivo performance. Preformed soft contact lenses with/without ionic functional groups were soaked in a solution of epinastine hydrochloride in phosphate-buffered saline to prepare epinastine hydrochloride-releasing soft contact lenses. Among these contact lenses with different ionicities, anionic lenses demonstrated the maximum, relatively linear epinastine hydrochloride release, in vitro. The amount of epinastine hydrochloride release was directly proportional to the concentration of the epinastine hydrochloride solution used to prepare the contact lens. The epinastine hydrochloride-releasing anionic soft contact lens also demonstrated prolonged drug release and significantly greater efficacy compared with epinastine hydrochloride eye drops 12 h after treatment, in vivo. Further studies are required to determine the appropriate amount of epinastine hydrochloride to be contained in the anionic soft contact lenses.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Conjunctivitis, Allergic / chemically induced
  • Conjunctivitis, Allergic / drug therapy
  • Contact Lenses, Hydrophilic*
  • Delayed-Action Preparations / administration & dosage
  • Delayed-Action Preparations / pharmacokinetics
  • Dibenzazepines / administration & dosage*
  • Dibenzazepines / pharmacokinetics*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Drug Delivery Systems
  • Guinea Pigs
  • Histamine / toxicity
  • Histamine H1 Antagonists / administration & dosage*
  • Histamine H1 Antagonists / pharmacokinetics*
  • Imidazoles / administration & dosage*
  • Imidazoles / pharmacokinetics*
  • In Vitro Techniques
  • Male
  • Ophthalmic Solutions
  • Osmolar Concentration

Substances

  • Delayed-Action Preparations
  • Dibenzazepines
  • Histamine H1 Antagonists
  • Imidazoles
  • Ophthalmic Solutions
  • Histamine
  • epinastine

Grants and funding

The authors (TM and AF) received funding for this work from SEED CO., LTD. (no grant number; http://www.seed.co.jp/). The funder had roles in material design and in vitro data collection.