Preparation and determination of in vivo and in vitro performance of doxycycline-imprinted contact lenses for corneal neovascularization treatment

The aim of this study is to develop doxycycline imprinted contact lenses that will be used in the treatment of corneal neovascularization, which can eventually cause blindness. For this purpose, doxycycline imprinted contact lenses were first prepared in two different diameters, 5.7 and 5.8 mm, then they were loaded with doxycycline and their in vitro and in vivo performances were determined. In the synthesis of the contact lenses, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate was used as a backbone monomer. The functional monomer was selected as itaconic acid using molecular simulations. Doxycycline release profile of the lenses was determined in NaCl solution at 37 °C. Their doxycycline release was reached about 3 µg/mg contact lenses in 6 hours. Higuchi model was fitted better than the others as a kinetic model. Swelling degrees of the contact lenses were determined as 38.8 %. Cytotoxic response of the lenses was investigated on retinal pigment epithelium cells. According to the results the lenses were not cytotoxic to RPE cell line. In vivo experiments in rat models were performed to study the treatment patterns. The rats were sacrificed fifteen days after treatment, and clinical examination under optical microscope was performed to evaluate neovascularization, infiltration of inflammatory cells, and corneal epithelial changes. In conclusion; doxycycline imprinted contact lenses promise as an effective treatment method for corneal neovascularization.