Yu Yu, Chow Derek Wai Yee, Lau Chi Ming Laurence, Zhou Guanqun, Back Woojin, Xu Jing, Carim Sean, Chau Ying
Chemical and Biological Engineering Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Hong Kong China.
Pleryon Therapeutics Limited Shenzhen China.
Bioeng Transl Med. 2021 Jun 5;6(3):e10227. doi: 10.1002/btm2.10227. eCollection 2021 Sep.
Natural soft hydrogels are unique elastic soft materials utilized by living organisms for protecting delicate tissues. Under a theoretical framework derived from the Blob model, we chemically crosslinked high molecular weight hyaluronic acid at a concentration close to its overlap concentration (*), and created synthetic soft hydrogels that exhibited unique rheological properties similar to a natural soft hydrogel: being dominantly elastic under low shear stress while being viscous when the stress is above a small threshold. We explored a potential application of the hyaluronic acid-based soft hydrogel as a long-acting ocular surface lubricant and evaluated its therapeutic effects for dry eye. The soft hydrogel was found to be biocompatible after topical instillation on experimental animals' and companion dogs' eyes. In a canine clinical study, twice-a-day ocular instillation of the soft hydrogel in combination with cyclosporine for 1 month improved the clinical signs in more than 65% of dog patients previously unresponsive to cyclosporine treatment.
天然软水凝胶是生物体用于保护脆弱组织的独特弹性软材料。在源自Blob模型的理论框架下，我们以接近其重叠浓度（*）的浓度对高分子量透明质酸进行化学交联，制备出了具有与天然软水凝胶相似独特流变学特性的合成软水凝胶：在低剪切应力下主要表现为弹性，而当应力高于一个小阈值时则表现为粘性。我们探索了基于透明质酸的软水凝胶作为长效眼表润滑剂的潜在应用，并评估了其对干眼症的治疗效果。经实验动物和伴侣犬眼部局部滴注后发现该软水凝胶具有生物相容性。在一项犬类临床研究中，每天两次将软水凝胶与环孢素联合眼部滴注1个月，使超过65%先前对环孢素治疗无反应的犬类患者的临床症状得到改善。
