Ectoine in the treatment of irritations and inflammations of the eye surface

Andreas Bilstein ¹, Anja Heinrich ², Anna Rybachuk ^{3 4}, Ralph Mösges ^{5 6}

Affiliations

• ¹Am Platz 2, 50129 Bergheim, Germany.
• ²bitop AG, Carlo-Schmid-Allee 5, Dortmund, Germany.
• ³Bogomolets National Medical University, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tarasa Shevchenko Blvd, 13, Kiev, Ukraine 01601.
• ⁴State Institution "O.S. Kolomiychenko Institute of Otolaryngology of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine", Zoolohichna St, 3, Kiev, Ukraine 03057.
• ⁵Institute of Medical Statistics and Computational Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Cologne, Kerpener Str. 62, 50937 Cologne, Germany.
• ⁶CRI Ltd., Genter Str. 7, 50672 Cologne, Germany.

Abstract

The ocular surface is facing various unspecific stress factors resulting in irritation and inflammation of the epithelia, causing discomfort to the patients. Ectoine is a bacteria-derived extremolyte with the ability to protect proteins and biological membranes from damage caused by extreme environmental conditions like heat, UV-light, high osmolarity, or dryness. Evidence from preclinical and clinical studies attest its effectiveness in treating several epithelium-associated inflammatory diseases, including the eye surface. In this review, we analysed 16 recent clinical trials investigating ectoine eye drops in patients with allergic conjunctivitis or with other unspecific ocular inflammations caused by e.g. ophthalmic surgery. Findings from these studies were reviewed in context with other published work on ectoine. In summary, patients with irritations and unspecific inflammations of the ocular surface have been treated successfully with ectoine-containing eye drops. In these patients, significant improvement was observed in ocular symptoms of allergic rhinoconjunctivitis, postoperative secondary dry eye syndrome, or ocular reepithelisation after surgery. Using ectoine as an add-on therapy to antihistamines, in allergy patients accelerated symptom relief by days, and its use as an add-on to antibiotics resulted in faster wound closure. Ectoine is a natural substance with an excellent tolerability and safety profile thus representing a helpful alternative for patients with inflammatory irritation of the ocular surface, who wish to avoid local reactions and side effects associated with pharmacological therapies or wish to increase the efficacy of standard treatment regimen.

Bilstein, A., Heinrich, A., Rybachuk, A., & Mösges, R. (2021). Ectoine in the Treatment of Irritations and Inflammations of the Eye Surface. BioMed research international, 2021, 8885032. https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8885032

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33628826/

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