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Updated: May 26, 2026
Determining the Toxicity of UV Radiation and Chemicals on Primary and Immortalized Human Corneal Epithelial Cells
Published on: July 22, 2021
Effect of contact lens material on cytotoxicity potential of multipurpose solutions using human corneal epithelial
M B Gorbet1, N C Tanti, B Crockett
1Department of Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. mgorbet@uwaterloo.ca
Purpose:
Multipurpose solutions (MPS) are used daily to clean and disinfect silicone hydrogel (SiHy) contact lenses. This in vitro study was undertaken to identify the potential for interaction between MPS, SiHy surface treatments, and lens materials, which may lead to changes in the response of human corneal epithelial cells (HCEC) to MPS-soaked lenses.
Methods:
The MPS tested were renu fresh (formerly known as ReNu MultiPlus; ReNu), OptiFree Express (OFX), OptiFree RepleniSH, SoloCare Aqua, and Complete Moisture Plus. The SiHy materials evaluated were lotrafilcon A, lotrafilcon B, comfilcon A, galyfilcon A, and balafilcon A (BA). MPS-soaked lenses were placed on top of adherent HCEC. The effect of MPS dilutions (0.1 to 10% final concentration in medium) was also characterized. Cell viability, adhesion phenotype and caspase activation were studied after 24-h cell exposure. OFX released from lenses was determined using UV absorbance.
Results:
A significant reduction in viability (between 30 to 50%) was observed with cells exposed to lenses soaked in ReNu and OFX. A significant downregulation of α(3) and β(1) integrins, with integrin expression ranging from 60% to 75% of control (cells with no lens), was also observed with OFX and ReNu-soaked lenses. With the exception of BA, all other lenses soaked in OFX resulted in significant caspase activation, whereby over 18% of cells stained positive for caspases. Minimal caspase activation was observed in cells exposed to ReNu and Solo soaked lenses. For both OFX and ReNu, exposing cells to at least a 5% dilution had a significant effect on viability and integrin expression. While Complete and Solo did not lead to reduction in viability, cells exposed to a 10% dilution showed reduced integrin expression down to less than 70% of control value. Comparing cell response to diluted MPS solutions and various MPS-soaked lenses showed that it is not possible to reliably use cell response to MPS dilution alone to assess MPS biocompatibility.
Conclusions:
Our results demonstrate that the reaction of HCEC to MPS are affected by the type of lenses the MPS is released from and may potentially be influenced by the surface treatment (or lack of it) of SiHy materials.
