Oral Hyaluronic Acid Supplementation for the Treatment of Dry Eye Disease: A Pilot Study

Yeseul Kim; Chan Hee Moon; Bo-Yeon Kim; Sun Young Jang

doi:10.1155/2019/5491626

Oral Hyaluronic Acid Supplementation for the Treatment of Dry Eye Disease: A Pilot Study

J Ophthalmol. 2019 Sep 25:2019:5491626. doi: 10.1155/2019/5491626. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Yeseul Kim¹, Chan Hee Moon², Bo-Yeon Kim³, Sun Young Jang¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, Bucheon, Republic of Korea.
² Eunpyeong Hopeful Eye Clinic, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
³ Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital, Bucheon, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the clinical efficacy of oral hyaluronic acid (HA) in patients with dry eye disease (DED).

Study design: Prospective randomized controlled trial.

Methods: This trial enrolled 54 subjects and they were randomized into the study or control group. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (1) >18 years of age; (2) distance best-corrected visual acuity ≥ 20/40 Snellen equivalent in each eye; (3) IOP ≤ 21 mmHg in both eyes; (4) ocular surface disease index (OSDI) score of ≥18 and <65; (5) <10 seconds of tear break up time (TBUT); (6) >5 corneal spots of corneal fluorescein staining (CFS); and (7) ≤ 10 mm/5 min of the Schirmer test. All subjects were treated with a topical HA, and the study group was supplemented with oral HA. OSDI, TBUT, CFS, and the Schirmer test were evaluated for ocular surface parameters.

Results: 24 patients were assigned in the study group. Significant improvement of OSDI, TBUT, and CFS was observed at 1 month and 3 months after oral HA administration in the study group. At baseline and follow-up at 1 and 3 months, OSDI scores were 61.8 ± 16.2, 47.3 ± 11.6, and 42.3 ± 9.1, respectively (P < 0.001). TBUT was improved after treatment for 1 month and 3 months (4.2 ± 1.1; P=0.005 and 4.7 ± 1.1; P < 0.012). There were also statistically significant improvements in the CSF (1.8 ± 1.0, 0.8 ± 0.7; P < 0.001) at baseline compared with those at 1 month.

Conclusions: A combined supplement of both oral and topical HA more efficiently improves corneal epithelial wound healing and related symptoms than topical HA alone, in DED.