Manufacturing a polyelectrolyte coating on contact lenses using automated vs. manual techniques for the treatment of dry eye disease Zixie Lianga, Alexis Nolfia, b, and Bryan Browna, b University of Pittsburgh, bMcGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA a
Zixie Liang is a Senior Bioengineering Student at the University of Pittsburgh with a cellular concentration and a chemistry minor. She is also an Undergraduate Research Assistant at McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Zixie Liang
Dr. Bryan Brown is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering with secondary appointments in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences and the Clinical and Translational Science Institute at the University of Pittsburgh. He is also a core Dr. Bryan Brown faculty member of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine where he serves as the Director of Educational Outreach. Dr. Brown is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Clinical Sciences at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and Chief Technology Officer of Renerva, LLC, a Pittsburgh-based start-up company.
Significance Statement
Dry eye disease (DED) is a common ocular disease worldwide and is characterized by inflammation mediated by proinflammatory macrophages, however, treatment currently cannot provide an effective and sustained relief. This project aims to establish a new treatment for DED that creates a nanometer thick coating on contact lenses with a drug delivery system that releases immune modifying drugs efficiently to patients’ eyes. This immune modifying drug is capable of shifting macrophage phenotype, therefore reducing inflammation. The automated and manual manufacturing techniques to coat lenses are compared in this paper.
Category: Experimental research
Keywords: Layer-by-layer coating, macrophage, contact lenses, dry eye disease
60 Undergraduate Research at the Swanson School of Engineering
Abstract
Dry eye disease (DED) is a multifactorial disease associated with a diminished quality of tear film and compromised ocular surface. It is recognized that inflammation mediated by macrophages is critical to the development of DED; therefore, we propose to coat an immune modifying drug that shifts macrophages from a pro-inflammatory (M1) to anti-inflammatory (M2) phenotype on to contact lenses with a polymer delivery system. This should provide for a sustained release of drug over time. Drug coated lenses were made either via automated coating method using a machine or in a manual way and then compared. Alcian blue staining and drug release kinetics show that immune modifying drug can be successfully coated on to lenses, and manually made lenses tend to be more uniformly coated but release less drug over time. The results of this study demonstrate that combination of current automated and manual methods should be used for the next-stage lens manufacturing for better drug coating and efficiency.
1. Introduction
Dry eye disease (DED) is a prevalent disease in the US and worldwide affecting millions of people, especially middle-aged and over [1]. Patients with dry eye disease often experience visual disturbances, eye dryness, irritation, and light sensitivity, which decreases the quality of life [2]. Treatments such as over the counter and prescription eye drops only provide transient and temporary relief and do not change the underlying disease [3]. Therefore, a new treatment for DED is desired. Past research revealed that DED is a disease with a core mechanism of inflammation and that this inflammation is mediated by macrophages [4]. A treatment for DED may be achieved by manipulating the polarization of macrophages to shift from a proinflammatory (M1) to an anti-inflammatory (M2) phenotype [4]. Previous studies focusing on polypropylene mesh have shown that immunomodulatory cytokines that promote an M2 phenotype can be released from a nanometer-thickness polymer coating loaded onto the surface of a biomaterial implant [5]. Therefore, we propose to use this immune-modifying drug with a polymer delivery system to create a coating on a contact lens. We hypothesize that this will give a sustained release of drug over time to remedy the defect of current DED treatment. To manufacture these coated lenses, we either produced them using a machine in an automated way or produced them manually by hand. The machine coated vs. hand coated method was compared during this experiment.
