Antiproliferative drug-loaded multi-functionalized intraocular lens for reducing posterior capsular opacification

Posterior capsule opacification (PCO) is one of the most frequent complications in cataract surgery and likely to cause the second loss of vision. Proliferation and migration of postoperative remnants of lens epithelial cells (LECs) on the implanted intraocular lens (IOL) are the leading causes of PCO. Antiproliferative drugs can be an effective solution but also possess some problems including sudden release and accompanying adverse effects to surrounding normal tissues, which greatly limit the clinical trials. In this study, an antiproliferative drug Paclitaxel (Pac) -sustained released hyaluronic acid (HA) and chitosan (CHI) multilayer modified IOL with postoperatively long-term PCO prevention was fabricated via layer by layer (LbL) technique. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) result shows that HA-Pac/CHI multilayer is modified onto IOL material via LbL technique successfully. The HA-Pac/CHI multilayer coating greatly improves the hydrophilicity of the IOL material surfaces without change the transmittance significantly, whereas the proliferation of LECs is distinctly reduced on the HA-Pac/CHI multilayer-modified surfaces. The drug release in vitro reveals that the multilayer modified IOL material is stable under physiological condition and has good sustained drug release property. All these results demonstrate that HA-Pac/CHI multilayer modified IOL material can effectively inhibit LECs proliferation which provides a novel approach for reducing of PCO incidence in clinical.

Automated summary

Posterior capsule opacification (PCO) is a common complication in cataract surgery caused by proliferation and migration of lens epithelial cells on the implanted intraocular lens. This study presents a novel approach using a multilayer-modified IOL with sustained drug release to effectively inhibit LECs proliferation and reduce the incidence of PCO in clinical practice. The modified IOL material shows improved hydrophilicity without affecting transmittance and stable drug release properties under physiological conditions.