Cornea Research Chair, Optometry Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 10219, Riyadh, 11433, Saudi Arabia.
Cont Lens Anterior Eye. 2019 Dec;42(6):633-639. doi: 10.1016/j.clae.2019.04.010. Epub 2019 Apr 19.
To investigate the effect of the addition of electrolytes, basic tear solution (BTS), and sodium carboxymethylcellulose (SCMS) on the tear ferning (TF) patterns of Blink Contact Soothing Eye Drops and Refresh Plus Tears.
Samples of Blink Contact Soothing Eye Drops and Refresh Plus Tears (10 μL) were mixed with different volumes (3-30 μL) of several electrolytes, namely sodium chloride, potassium chloride, calcium chloride, magnesium chloride hexahydrate, sodium hydrogen carbonate, and sodium dihydrogen phosphate, BTS, and SCMS. Samples (1 μL) of the mixtures were dried on a glass slide at room temperature and the TF patterns were inspected using a light microscope, graded using the Masmali five-point grading scale and compared to the corresponding TF grades of the artificial tears.
The TF grades of Blink Contact Soothing Eye Drops and Refresh Plus Tears improved from 1.2 and 1.5, respectively to 0.2 when calcium chloride was used as the electrolyte. Improvements in TF grades were also observed when other electrolytes (e.g., sodium dihydrogen phosphate), BTS, and SCMS were used.
The tear ferning test can be used to evaluate the effect of the addition of electrolytes to an artificial tear in-vitro. The TF patterns of artificial tear solutions such as Blink Contact Soothing Eye Drops and Refresh Plus Tears can be improved with the addition of various concentrations of electrolytes, BTS, and SCMS, however further research is still needed to understand the clinical relevance of TF patterns with respect to the management of dry eye symptoms and their potential role in the development of new artificial tears.
研究添加电解质、基础泪液（BTS）和羧甲基纤维素钠（SCMS）对 Blink Contact Soothing Eye Drops 和 Refresh Plus Tears 的泪膜蕨样图形（TF）的影响。
将 Blink Contact Soothing Eye Drops 和 Refresh Plus Tears（10μL）样品与不同体积（3-30μL）的几种电解质（氯化钠、氯化钾、氯化钙、六水合氯化镁、碳酸氢钠和磷酸二氢钠）、BTS 和 SCMS 混合。将混合物（1μL）在室温下干燥在载玻片上，使用显微镜检查 TF 图案，使用 Masmali 五分制分级标准对其进行分级，并与人工泪液的相应 TF 等级进行比较。
当使用氯化钙作为电解质时，Blink Contact Soothing Eye Drops 和 Refresh Plus Tears 的 TF 等级分别从 1.2 和 1.5 提高到 0.2。当使用其他电解质（例如磷酸二氢钠）、BTS 和 SCMS 时，也观察到 TF 等级的改善。
泪膜蕨样图形试验可用于评估向人工泪液中添加电解质的体外效果。通过添加各种浓度的电解质、BTS 和 SCMS，可以改善人工泪液溶液（如 Blink Contact Soothing Eye Drops 和 Refresh Plus Tears）的 TF 模式，但仍需要进一步研究以了解 TF 模式与干眼症症状管理的临床相关性及其在开发新的人工泪液方面的潜在作用。
