Comparison of the Anti-Inflammatory and Cytotoxic Potential of Different Corticosteroid Eye Drop Preparations

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To compare the immunosuppressive and cytotoxic effects of three anti-inflammatory eye drops formulations containing betamethasone plus chloramphenicol (B+C), dexamethasone plus netilmicin (D+N) or dexamethasone plus tobramycin (D+T).Methods: The eye drops formulations have been tested at different dilutions on cytokine synthesis by mouse or human cultured macrophages, as well as proliferation and viability of cultured human corneal cells (HCE).Results: B+C reduced IL6 and TNFα production by cultured mouse or human macrophages more potently than D+N and D+T, with the tree formulations having the same impact on IL-10 expression. We also found that the eye drops preparations reduced proliferation of HCE cells, with D+T showing the higher anti-proliferative potency and B+C showing the lower cytotoxic potential.Conclusion: Our study points out that it may be erroneous to consider routinely-used anti-inflammatory eye drops preparations with analogous formulations as readily interchangeable and of similar potency and tolerability.

Keywords:

• Eye drops formulation
• inflammation
• cytotoxicity
• dexamethasone
• betamethasone

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from The University of Florence and Fondazione Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze.

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze; Università degli Studi di Firenze