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Beth Szliter and Dr. Hazlett are working on infection-free contact lenses.
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People who use extended-wear
soft contact lenses are 37-times more likely to get an eye infection than those
who use daily-wear lenses. Still,
customers want the convenience and comfort of lenses that can be worn
continuously for up to 30 days. Helping to meet the market demand is Linda
Hazlett,
PhD, professor and chair of anatomy and cell biology. Dr. Hazlett and research assistant Beth Szliter are working with
CIBA Vision Novartis Corporation to test contact lenses made with new
materials. “It seems these new materials are reducing the incidence of ocular infection and promoting healthier corneas,” said Dr. Hazlett. CIBA Vision chose to work with Wayne State University’s Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology based on the reputation of its vision research program, which has long been supported by National Institutes of Health grants. Dr. Hazlett and her research team have had success observing contact-lens related cellular events in the eye, including measuring inflammatory mediators and the presence of various related proteins.
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These lenses were custom engineered to fit the eyes of rats.
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In the laboratory,
researchers fit rats with custom-engineered contact lenses that are about the
size of a pea. The test lenses do not
affect vision, but researchers observe and measure how the animals’ eyes react
to the lenses. A contact lens is fitted
to one eye, while the other eye serves as a control. Then, both eyes are compared and Dr. Hazlett studies molecular
upregulation of inflammatory signals, their kinetics and tissue protein
levels. Such information could provide
a better understanding of inflammation and infection associated with contact
lens usage. With sensitive molecular
assays, WSU researchers can test for cytokines and chemokines in various
corneal tissues following contact lens usage alone or after experimental
infection with bacteria known to cause infections in contact lens wearers. More knowledge of the host response to the
bacteria in the presence of a contact lens could provide information critical
to extended-wear lens manufacturers, enabling them to design better products. “Our hope, together with CIBA Vision is to find the right combination of materials in the contact lenses, so that the eye will have no reaction to them at all,” said Dr. Hazlett. “Physiologically, we want the eye to behave as if not wearing a contact lens.
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