ArticleJournal of ocular pharmacology and therapeutics : the official journal of the Association for Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics2009
Comparative toxicity of preservatives on immortalized corneal and conjunctival epithelial cells.
Article in Journal of ocular pharmacology and therapeutics : the official journal of the Association for Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 70 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
70 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 193 citations in OpenAlex.
- TFOS Lifestyle: Impact of cosmetics on the ocular surface.The ocular surface · 2023Pooled it
- Corneal Thickness Response after Anesthetic Eye Drops: Our Own Results and Meta-Analysis.BioMed research international · 2018Pooled it
- Efficacy and Toxicity Evaluation of Bepotastine Besilate 1.5% Preservative-Free Eye Drops Vs Olopatadine Hydrochloride 0.2% Bak-Preserved Eye Drops in Patients with Allergic Conjunctivitis.Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2023Trial
- [Preservative-free glaucoma treatment : Selection of the correct treatment in 1 min].Der Ophthalmologe : Zeitschrift der Deutschen Ophthalmologischen Gesellschaft · 2016Trial
- Efficacy and tolerability of a gatifloxacin/prednisolone acetate fixed combination for topical prophylaxis and control of inflammation in phacoemulsification: a 20-day-double-blind comparison to its individual components.Clinics (Sao Paulo, Brazil) · 2013Trial
- Blocking IL-6 trans-signaling mitigates benzalkonium chloride-induced inflammation, oxidative imbalance, ER stress, and barrier disruption in human corneal epithelial cells.Eye and vision (London, England) · 2026Article
- In vitro evaluation of cytotoxicity of TONS504 and blue light irradiation on porcine corneal epithelial cells.The Journal of veterinary medical science · 2026Article
- Evaluation of Octenidine Dihydrochloride-Induced Cytotoxicity, Apoptosis, and Inflammatory Responses in Human Ocular Epithelial and Retinal Cells.Biomedicines · 2025Article
- Topical Ocular Drug Delivery: The Impact of Permeation Enhancers.Pharmaceutics · 2025Review
- Applications of Diquafosol Sodium in Ophthalmology: A Comprehensive Review of Therapeutic Utility.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Unhappy 20/20: A New Challenge for Cataract Surgery.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Evaluating and Managing the Microbial Contamination of Eye Drops: A Two-Phase Hospital-Based Study.Pharmaceutics · 2024Article
- Therapeutic Aqueous Humor Concentrations of Latanoprost Attained in Rats by Administration in a Very-High-Molecular-Weight Hyaluronic Acid Eye Drop.Pharmaceutics · 2024Article
- Intraocular nano-microscale drug delivery systems for glaucoma treatment: design strategies and recent progress.Journal of nanobiotechnology · 2023Review
- Article
- A Critical Appraisal of the Physicochemical Properties and Biological Effects of Artificial Tear Ingredients and Formulations.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Initial Experience With Biosimilar Bevacizumab-bvzr For Intravitreal Use in Children: A Case Series and Literature Review.Ophthalmic surgery, lasers & imaging retina · 2023Article
- Therapeutic Potential of Honey and Propolis on Ocular Disease.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Review
10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeNearly all eye drops contain preservatives to decrease contamination. Nonpreservatives such as disodium-ethylene diamine tetra-acetate (EDTA) and phosphate-buffered saline are also regularly added as buffering agents. These components can add to the toxicity of eye drops and cause ocular surface disease. To evaluate the potential toxicity of these common components and their comparative effects on the ocular surface, a tissue culture model utilizing immortalized corneal and conjunctival epithelial cells was utilized.
methodsImmortalized human conjunctival and corneal epithelial cells were grown. At confluency, medium was replaced with 100 microL of varying concentrations of preservatives: benzalkonium chloride (BAK), methyl paraben (MP), sodium perborate (SP), chlorobutanol (Cbl), and stabilized thimerosal (Thi); varying concentrations of buffer: EDTA; media (viable control); and formalin (dead control). After 1 h, solutions were replaced with 150 microL of MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazonium bromide). After 4 h, solutions decanted, 100 microL of acid isopropanol added, and the optical density determined at 572 nm to evaluate cell viability.
resultsConjunctival and corneal cell toxicity was seen with all preservatives. Depending upon concentration, BAK exhibited from 56% to 89% toxicity. In comparison, Cbl exhibited from 50% to 86%, MP from 30% to 76%, SP from 23% to 59%, and Thi from 70% to 95%. EDTA with minimal toxicity (from 6% to 59%) was indistinguishable from SP.
conclusionsGenerally, the order of decreasing toxicity at the most commonly used concentrations: Thi (0.0025%) > BAK (0.025%) > Cbl (0.25%) > MP (0.01%) > SP (0.0025%) approximately EDTA (0.01%). Even at low concentration, these agents will cause some degree of ocular tissue damage.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.