What's new in dry eye research today? | Oct 15, 2026

【Title】The FAST Study: Examining Quality of Vision Outcomes in Dry Eye Disease Patients with Severe Keratitis Treated with the Ciclosporin A Cationic Emulsion

【Journal】J Ocul Pharmacol Ther

【Authors】Pierre-Jean Pisella; Amrane Mourad; Dahlia Ismail; et al.

【Summary】In this Phase IV, prospective, open-label study, 17 patients with dry eye disease (DED) and severe keratitis received ciclosporin A 0.1% cationic emulsion once daily for three months alongside preservative-free artificial tears, with mean corneal fluorescein staining scores decreasing from 3.8 to 1.8. Improvements in staining correlated with better visual maintenance ratio (ρ = −0.70, P = 0.0017) and functional visual acuity (ρ = 0.6005, P = 0.0139), although the small, uncontrolled study limits the generalizability of these findings.

【Title】Topical Insulin in the Treatment of Ocular Surface Disease: A Retrospective Cohort Study

【Journal】Cornea

【Authors】Marie Lammens; Dimitri Roels; Silke Oellerich; et al.

【Summary】This retrospective multicenter study evaluated topical insulin (1 IU/mL, four times daily) in 57 eyes of 45 patients, with treatment success rates of 83.9% for neurotrophic keratopathy (NK), 44.4% for dry eye disease (DED), and 14.3% for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD); the difference between NK and GVHD was statistically significant (P = 0.028). Among 28 eyes with persistent epithelial defects, 71.4% achieved complete closure after a mean of 5.2 weeks, supporting further investigation of topical insulin, particularly for NK, while prospective studies are needed to confirm efficacy and safety.

【Title】Innovative Iteration of Anti-Inflammatory Therapies and Delivery Technologies for Dry Eye: A Multidimensional Perspective

【Journal】J Ocul Pharmacol Ther

【Authors】Xiaochuan Yan; Zhanqing Huang; Wenyan Pei; et al.

【Summary】This review analyzed 127 studies published between 2013 and 2023, comprising 368 datasets, and reported TBUT increases of 1.84 seconds with targeted anti-inflammatory drugs, 1.58 seconds with glucocorticoids, and 0.97 seconds with calcineurin inhibitors compared with NSAIDs. Advanced drug-delivery systems and personalized dosing were also associated with greater TBUT improvements than conventional eye drops, although heterogeneity among studies and the analytical methods warrant cautious interpretation.