Contact lenses are popular with people around the world. However, wearing contact lenses comes with potential complications.
Contact lenses must be disinfected on a regular basis and previous studies have found that the disinfecting solutions currently on the market are not effective for preventing biofilm on the lens. Biofilm are clusters of bacteria that attach to the lens surface and this bacteria can cause microbial keratitis. Microbial keratitis is the most serious infection complication contact lens wearers can experience. This is a bacterial infection of the cornea that is typically caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Microbial keratitis infections can lead to permanent eye damage and vision loss. Contact lens wearers double their risk of contracting the infection if they wear their lenses overnight or longer than the recommended daily amount.
Researchers from the University of Portsmouth in England and Naresuan and Pibulsongkram Rajabhat universities in Thailand have studied the possible use of multi-use formulas using hydroquinine as a contact lens disinfectant. Hydroquinine is derived from leaves of many plants including bearberry, mountain cranberry and whortleberry leaves as well as the bark of some trees. It has long been used as a treatment for malaria.
The researchers compared the antibacterial, anti-adhesion, and anti-biofilm abilities of hydroquinine-formulated multi-purpose solutions to to commercial solutions and discovered that the hydroquinine formulation killed 99.9 percent of bacteria at the time of disinfection.
Additional research is needed to determine the efficacy and safety of hydroquinine use but researchers are hopeful that hydroquinine will prove to be a new option for contact lens wearers for their disinfecting needs.
