Advancing Supersaturated Oxygen Emulsion as a Topical Treatment for Ocular Chemical Injury in Rabbits
Abstract
Rationale: Ocular trauma is a common injury on the battlefield, comprising 13% of all body injuries during recent military conflicts. Chemical injury is one of the most common sources of eye injury and is an integral part of explosion injuries, which account for more than 70% of eye injuries on the battlefield. The costs of eye injuries in the military from 2000-2010 were in excess of $2 billion per year. In civilian life, chemical injury to the eye occurs in nearly 50,000 Americans every year with an average of $26.6 million per year in emergency departments charges only. More important than the economic impact is the lost vision and quality of life. Unfortunately, severe chemical injuries often occur in both eyes, leaving otherwise able-bodied productive members of the military and society blind and disabled. Unmet Needs: Chemical injury damages every part of the eye. Facial and eyelid skin deformity leads to poor eye closure and exposure of the eye. The cornea, the clear dome-shaped protective layer of the eye, is scarred and even melted when in contact with chemicals. Chemicals, particular alkali, can seep to the inside of the eye and cause severe inflammation and tissue damage. Cataract, an otherwise incipient clouding of the lens in the older population, can quickly form after chemical injury, requiring surgery to remove the cloudy lens. If deeper components of the eye including the retina (film layer of the eye) and optic nerve (sending signal from the eye to the brain) are damaged, these changes are often irreversible. When chemicals contact the eye, the eye must be flushed with large amounts of water, often requiring several liters to remove the chemicals completely. Other than flushing, there is no targeted treatment at time of injury. The situation is even worse on the battlefield with no access to clean water. If there is delayed evacuation of Warfighters, chemicals can stay on the eye for days resulting in damage beyond treatment or repair. Therefore, an easy-to-use and effective therapy at time of injury will undoubtedly change the current standard of care for chemical injury. Research Idea: Oxygen makes up roughly 21% of the air we breathe in and is vital to almost all living things. Oxygen therapy has been used to treat many diseases, ranging from oxygen mask for an asthma attack, to special chamber filled with high-concentration oxygen to treat diabetic skin ulcers. But these treatments are not practical in austere environments. We have developed an exciting technology using a biocompatible oxygen carrier perfluorodecalin, which has been used in humans as a blood substitute due to its ability to bind and release oxygen. Our technology, Supersaturated Oxygen Emulsion (SSOE), harnesses and secures oxygen at very high concentration (>4 times of normal oxygen level in the air) in a canister, which can be directly sprayed onto injured tissues. We have done extensive testing of SSOE in human cells and live mice, demonstrating no toxicity. More importantly, we showed in live mice that a single spray of SSOE to the surface of the eye after chemical burn reduces ocular opacity by more than 60% and decreases the rate of cataract formation from 80% to less than 20%. While mice are a good starting animal model for technology development, mouse eye structures are very different from human eyes. Rabbit eyes, on the other hand, are much more similar to human eyes and have been very commonly used as models to test eye medications and treatments before clinical use. Objectives: In this proposal, we will test the ocular safety of SSOE in live rabbits. In addition, we will determine if and how SSOE treatment reduces the negative impact of alkali burn in rabbits. When the proposal is completed, we will have definitive efficacy data on SSOE with clearly defined clinical guidelines to be used in the battlefield and healthcare facilities such as the emergency room. Impact: Our proposed
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Dec 28, 2022
- Source ID
- W81XWH2210718
Entities
People
- Jia Yin
Organizations
- Schepens Eye Research Institute
- United States Army