New Eye Treatment for Seasonal Allergies discovered

A new eye drop treatment found effective for seasonal eye allergies, according to a recent study. This treatment for pollen-induced eye allergies reduced allergy-related symptoms (swelling and tearing) by 50 – 80%.

About 30% of the population worldwide shows allergic symptoms and approximately 40 - 80% of them suffer from eye symptoms. Allergic diseases that affect the eyes, also called ocular allergies, are a heterogeneous group of diseases that present a wide spectrum of symptoms: redness, itching, burning, pain and even intolerance to light (photophobia).

Victoria Gonzalez Mpharm, PhD, of Sylentis and his associates, conducted a study to evaluate whether or not a non-antihistamine drug that targets a specific gene linked to eye infections could be a potential option to treat patients suffering from seasonal allergies.

The team evaluated different biological fluids before administering the compound in eye drop form to a mouse model with eye allergies. It was found that this treatment for pollen-induced eye allergies reduced allergy-related symptoms (swelling and tearing) by 50 – 80%.

The study concluded that these observations were equivalent to those observed in response to Patanol and Levocabastine — two frequently prescribed antihistamine eye drop medications used to treat seasonal eye allergies.

The findings of the study were presented at Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) in Honolulu, Hawaii.