Efficacy of cyclosporine combined with recombinant human epidermal growth factor derivative eye drops in patients with moderate to severe dry eye disease
XU Yajuan
LIN Shaojun
LI Jiahuan
Abstract：Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of cyclosporine combined with recombinant human epidermal growth factor(rh-EGF)derivative eye drops in the treatment of patients with moderate to severe dry eye disease.Methods A total of 156 patients with moderate to severe dry eye disease who received targeted treatment at Gaoming District People's Hospital,Foshan City between January 2023 and December 2024 were prospectively selected and randomly allocated into the control group and the observation group via the random number table method.The control group(78 cases)received cyclosporine eye drops,while the observation group(78 cases)received cyclosporine eye drops combined with rh-EGF de-rivative eye drops.Both groups were treated for 8 weeks.Clinical efficacy,tear break-up time(BUT),Schirmer I test(SIT),corneal fluorescein staining(CFS)score,Ocular Surface Disease Index(OSDI)score,tear cytokine levels(interleukin-6(IL-6),tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),lactoferrin),and the incidence of adverse reactions were compared between the two groups.Results The total effective rate was 89.74%(70/78)in the observation group,significantly higher than 75.64%(59/78)in the control group(χ2=5.419,P＜0.05).After treatment,BUT and SIT values increased in both groups compared to pre-treatment lev-els,with the observation group showing higher BUT and SIT((6.36±0.92)s,(8.15±1.14)mm/5 min,respectively)than the con-trol group((4.89±0.75)s,(6.46±1.22)mm/5 min,respectively)(t=10.938,8.939,both P＜0.05).After treatment,CFS and OSDI scores decreased in both groups compared to pre-treatment levels,with the observation group showing lower CFS and OSDI scores((3.42±0.78)points,(19.28±4.57)points,respectively)than the control group((4.56±0.89)points,(23.21±4.68)points,respectively)(t=8.508,5.306,both P＜0.05).After treatment,IL-6 and TNF-α levels decreased while lactoferrin levels increased in both groups compared to pre-treatment levels.The observation group showed lower IL-6 and TNF-α levels((42.96±8.17)ng/L,(23.20±4.35)ng/L,respectively)than the control group((46.14±8.06)ng/L,(29.29±4.26)ng/L,respectively)(t=2.447,8.834,both P＜0.05),and higher lactoferrin levels((2.06±0.58)mg/L)than the control group((1.59±0.45)mg/L)(t=5.654,P＜0.05).The incidence of adverse reactions was 7.69%(6/78)in the control group and 6.41%(5/78)in the observation group,with no statis-tically significant difference between the two groups(χ2=0.098,P＞0.05).Conclusion The combination of cyclosporine and rh-EGF derivative eye drops effectively improves tear film function,reduces corneal damage,and modulates inflammatory factors and lactoferrin levels in patients with moderate to severe dry eye disease,with a favorable safety profile.
Keywords：cyclosporinerecombinant human epidermal growth factormoderate to severe dry eye syndromeclinical efficacytear film functioninflammatory factors
Publication Date：2025-12-25
Online Publishing Date：2026-01-07(First online date of this platform, not the publication date of the document)
Pages：5( 1565-1569 )