New eye drops with antibodies can treat dry eye disease: Study

Researchers have identified an antibody in the human tear fluid, and have demonstrated that a new eye drop treatment targets the discovered antibody, and reduced signs and symptoms of dry eye disease.

Earlier studies had shown that strands of DNA extrude from a type of white blood cells called neutrophils to form webs on the surface of eyes, the researchers said.

The neutrophils, they added, caused inflammation on eye surfaces affected by severe dry eye disease.

In the new study, published in the journal The Ocular Surface, the researchers identified that antibodies present in the human tears called anti-citrullinated protein autoantibodies, or ACPAs, were another cause of eye inflammation, contributing to the development of these webs.

According to the researchers, both the processes lead to a "vicious cycle of inflammation."