Topical lipoic acid choline ester eye drops improve near visual acuity; study finds

Presbyopia is caused by a combination of ciliary body, vitreous body, and crystalline lens degeneration. The degenerative changes in the crystalline lens are thought to be caused by changes in the flexibility of the lens capsule and its contents, as well as changes in the overall size and shape of the lens.

Lipoic acid (LA) is an antioxidant that has been found to diminish lens disulfide linkages chemically. In preclinical experiments, topical LA enhanced lens flexibility in vitro in a dose-dependent manner. A new research backs up the further development of UNR844 ophthalmic solution for presbyopia therapy.

This study was conducted by Michael S. Korenfeld and team with the objective look at the safety and efficacy of a topical lipoic acid choline ester (UNR844, 1.5 %) ocular solution in enhancing distance-corrected near visual acuity (DCNVA) in people with presbyopia. The findings of this study were published in the Journal of Eye.

This was a multicenter, prospective, randomized, double-masked clinical experiment. Subjects with presbyopia (n = 75) were randomly assigned to either UNR844 or a placebo. On days 1–7, all individuals were dosed unilaterally (twice a day, b.i.d.) in their non-dominant eye to confirm safety and acceptability before switching to bilateral dosage on days 8–91. (b.i.d.). At each trial visit, clinical evaluations, including DCNVA and adverse events (AEs), were documented. Patients who completed the study were enrolled in a non-interventional follow-up study that tracked them for 7 months after their last UNR844 exposure. Safety and the mean change in DCNVA from baseline in the study eye were the main objectives.