Preclinical study of a new matrix to help the ocular surface in dry eye disease

Dry eye disease (DED), a multifactorial disease of the tears and ocular system, causes loss of tear film homeostasis with damage to the ocular surface. This study aimed to assess whether a peculiar matrix based on sodium hyaluronate (HA), xanthan gum (XNT), glycine (GLY) and betaine (BET) as osmoprotectants, could be involved in biological responses. Wound healing assay on human corneal epithelial (HCE) cells in monolayer showed a synergistic effect of the combination of HA + XNT (**p ≤ 0.01) together with an efficient extracellular matrix remodeling of the formulation in SkinEthic™ HCE 3D-model sought by integrin beta-1 (ITGβ1) expression and morphological analysis by hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), compared to a reference marketed product. The synergistic effect of HA + XNT + GLY + BET showed an antioxidant effect on HCE cells (***p ≤ 0.001). Real-time PCR analysis showed that the combination of GLY + BET seemed to ameliorate the effect exhibited by the single osmoprotectants in reducing tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα, #p ≤ 0.05), interleukin-1 beta (IL1β, ####p ≤ 0.0001) and cyclooxygenases-2 (COX2, ####p ≤ 0.0001) genes in SIRC cells under hyperosmotic stress. Furthermore, pretreatment with XNT, alone and in combination (##p ≤ 0.01), reduced COX2 expression in human non-small cell lung cancer cells (A549). Finally, the formulation was well-tolerated following q.i.d. ocular administration in rabbits during a 28-day study. Due to the synergistic effect of its components, the matrix proved able to repair the ocular surface restoring cell homeostasis and to protect the ocular surface from pro-inflammatory pathways activation and oxidative damage, thus behaving as a reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger.