Quantitative assessment of tear production: A review of methods and utility in dry eye drug discovery

Michelle Senchyna, Martin B. Wax

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

55 Scopus citations

Abstract

The successful development of a therapeutic agent targeting treatment of dry eye syndrome necessitates the demonstration of drug efficacy for both sign and symptom endpoints. As numerous therapeutic strategies incorporate a secretagogue function into their overall mechanism of action, the quantitative assessment of tear production serves as a logical endpoint to anchor "sign" efficacy. Although several methods including the Schirmer, the phenol red thread and tear clearance tests exist, their utility in clinical evaluations of novel therapeutics is unclear. The purpose of this review is to summarize findings and conclusions describing the performance of each of these tests so as to gain insight into which, if any, is most applicable for use in discovering new dry eye therapeutics.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1-6
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of Ocular Biology, Diseases, and Informatics
Volume1
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2008

Keywords

  • Dry eye
  • Fluorophotometry
  • Phenol read thread
  • Schirmer test
  • Tear clearance
  • Tear secretion

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ophthalmology
  • Genetics

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