Lipid Supplements and Clinical Aspects of Tear Film in Habitual Lens Wearers

Abstract

Purpose 

To establish the effect of lipid supplements on the tear lipid layer and their influence on lens wear comfort in habitual lens wearers.

Methods 

Forty habitual soft contact lens wearers were recruited to a double-masked, randomized crossover trial. An emulsion drop containing phosphatidylglycerine (Systane Balance; Alcon) and a saline drop as a placebo or a liposomal spray containing phosphatidylcholine (Tears again; BioRevive) and a saline spray as a placebo were used three times a day for 2 weeks with 48 hours washout between each intervention. Ocular comfort, lipid layer grade, and stability of the tear film using a Tearscope and tear evaporation rate using a modified VapoMeter were assessed after 6 hours of lens wear with lenses in situ.

Results 

Neither of the lipid supplements improved lens wear comfort compared to baseline. The noninvasive surface drying time significantly reduced with the placebo spray at day 1 (P = .002) and day 14 (P = .01) whereas the lipid spray had no effect. With the lipid drop and placebo, noninvasive surface drying time was unchanged compared to baseline (P > .05) on day 1, but by day 14, noninvasive surface drying time was reduced with the lipid drop (P = .02) and placebo (P < .001). Symptomatic wearers showed shorter noninvasive surface drying time compared to asymptomatic wearers with the spray treatment on both days (P = .03) but not with the lipid drop (P = .64). The placebo drop significantly changed the lipid layer distribution (P = .03) with a higher percentage of thinner patterns compared to the baseline distribution at day 14. A weak but significant correlation was shown between ocular comfort and noninvasive surface drying time (r = −0.21, P = .003) and tear evaporation rate (r = 0.19, P = .008). Ocular comfort was not associated with lipid layer patterns (r = 0.13, P = .06).

Conclusions 

Ocular comfort during contact lens wear improved with increased tear film stability and a reduced tear evaporation rate. However, the lipid supplements did not improve ocular comfort from baseline.