Overcoming Antimicrobial Resistance in Bacterial Keratitis With an Antibiotic-Eluting Contact Lens
Abstract
PURPOSE: Bacterial keratitis (BK) is a leading cause of corneal blindness globally, with an alarming rise in resistant infections. Current standard-of-care antibiotic eye drops or ointments suffer from low bioavailability and often fail to achieve therapeutic concentrations in cornea. This study evaluated a therapeutic contact lens (M-TCL) designed to provide sustained, localized high drug concentrations of moxifloxacin-a commonly used broad-spectrum antibiotic-as a potential treatment for drug-resistant BK.
METHODS: M-TCLs were engineered by encapsulating a thin moxifloxacin-polymer film within periphery of a contact lens hydrogel. Pharmacokinetics were assessed in rabbit ocular tissues and serum. Efficacy was evaluated using a rabbit keratitis model induced by clinical methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) isolates that displayed in vitro resistance to moxifloxacin (minimum inhibitory concentration = 8 µg/mL). Biocompatibility was assessed through Draize testing and histological analysis.
RESULTS: In vitro, M-TCLs retained physical properties comparable to commercial contact lenses, sustained moxifloxacin release over 24 hours, and remained stable in a hydrated state for 12 months, enabling on-demand use. In rabbits, M-TCLs maintained higher corneal drug concentrations at all time points over 24 hours than the peak concentration from moxifloxacin drops (P = 0.03), with a 32-fold higher peak drug concentration and at least 11.3-fold greater area under the…
Read the paper
Related studies
- Synthesis, In Vitro and In Silico Molecular Docking Studies of Novel Phthalimide–Pyrimidine Hybrid Analogues to Thalidomide as Potent Antitubercular Agents
- Exploring the inhibitory performance of expired moxifloxacin and norfloxacin on copper corrosion in saline environment
- Molecular investigation of antimicrobial peptides against Helicobacter pylori proteins using a peptide-protein docking approach
- Screening of novel narrow-spectrum benzofuroxan derivatives for the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis through in silico, in vitro, and in vivo approaches
- Synthesis, Characterization, Anticancer, Antioxidant, and In Silico Evaluation of Semicarbazides and Thiosemicarbazides
- Fast and accurate prediction of drug induced proarrhythmic risk with sex specific cardiac emulators
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.