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. 2021 Jan 1;47(1):2-7.
doi: 10.1097/ICL.0000000000000687.

Associations Between Systemic Omega-3 Fatty Acid Levels With Moderate-to-Severe Dry Eye Disease Signs and Symptoms at Baseline in the Dry Eye Assessment and Management Study

Eric J Kuklinski  1 , Milton M Hom, Gui-Shuang Ying, Meng C Lin, Robert S Chapkin, Richard Jones, Ann Moser, Ka Yeun Kim, Maureen G Maguire, Penny A Asbell; DREAM Study Research Group
Affiliations

Associations Between Systemic Omega-3 Fatty Acid Levels With Moderate-to-Severe Dry Eye Disease Signs and Symptoms at Baseline in the Dry Eye Assessment and Management Study

Eric J Kuklinski et al. Eye Contact Lens. .

Abstract

Purpose: Omega-3 (n-3) fatty acid supplementation is used to treat systemic inflammatory diseases, but the role of n-3 in the pathophysiology and therapy of dry eye disease (DED) is not definitive. We evaluated the relationship of systemic n-3 levels with signs and symptoms at baseline in the Dry Eye Assessment and Management (DREAM) Study.

Methods: Blood samples from participants at baseline were analyzed for n-3 and n-6, measured as relative percentage by weight among all fatty acids in erythrocytes. Symptoms were evaluated using the Ocular Surface Disease Index. Signs including conjunctival staining, corneal staining, tear breakup time (TBUT), and Schirmer's test with anesthesia were also evaluated.

Results: There was no correlation between the systemic n-3 levels and DED symptoms. When the associations with signs of DED were assessed, lower DHA levels were associated with higher conjunctival staining, with mean scores of 3.31, 2.96, and 2.82 for low, medium, and high levels of DHA, respectively (linear trend P=0.007). None of the other signs were associated with DHA or the other measures of n-3.

Conclusion: Previous studies have found varying results on the role of n-3 supplementation with the signs and symptoms of DED. Among patients with DED enrolled in the DREAM Study, lower systemic n-3 levels were not associated with worse symptoms and most signs of DED.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02128763.

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Conflict of interest statement

P. A. Asbell reports personal fees from Santen, personal fees from Shire, grants and personal fees from Novartis, personal fees from Medscape, grants and personal fees from MC2 Therapeutics, grants, personal fees, and nonfinancial support from Valeant, Bausch& Lomb, personal fees from Allergan, personal fees from ScientiaCME, grants and personal fees from Rtech, personal fees from Oculus, grants and personal fees from Miotech, personal fees and nonfinancial support from Shire, personal fees and nonfinancial support from Santen, personal fees and nonfinancial support from CLAO, and personal fees from Vindico, outside the submitted work. M. C. Lin reports grants from Amorphex Therapeutics, grants from CooperVision, Inc, grants from Essilor USA, grants from GLIA LLC, grants from Johnson & Johnson, grants from Leo Lens, Inc, grants from Orinda Pharma, grants from Verily Life Science, grants from Viewpoint Pharmaceuticals, personal fees from Google X, personal fees from Health Advances, personal fees from Novartis, and personal fees from Shire, during the conduct of the study. M. M. Hom reports grants from Allergan, Takeda, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Bausch Health, Hovine Scientia, Tear Solutions, and Kala Pharamceuticals. E. J. Kuklinski reports a grant from MC2 Therapeutics. M. J. Maguire reports personal fees from Genentech/Roche. The remaining authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

References

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