Assessment of the tolerability profile of an ophthalmic solution of 5% glycyrrhizin and copolymer PEG/PPG on healthy volunteers and evaluation of its efficacy in the treatment of moderate to severe blepharitis

Rita Mencucci, Eleonora Favuzza, Ugo Menchini

Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine – Eye Clinic, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

Purpose: To evaluate the tolerability on healthy volunteers and the efficacy on subjects affected by chronic moderate/severe blepharitis of a 5% glycyrrhizin and copolymer poly(ethylene glycol)/poly(propylene glycol)(PEG/PPG) ophthalmic solution.
Methods: The study was a randomized, controlled, open label, intra-patient monocentric study. It consisted of two different phases, the assessment of tolerability phase on 20 healthy volunteers, and the evaluation of the efficacy on 21 subjects affected by chronic moderate/severe blepharitis; the treatment period was 2 weeks, followed by 1-week of follow-up. In the efficacy phase, in both eyes, eyelid hygiene was also performed. At day 0, 3, 7, 14, and 21 a complete ophthalmological examination was performed. In the tolerability phase, signs of clinical toxicity were recorded and subject-reported symptoms were collected using a questionnaire. In the efficacy phase, global signs and symptoms of blepharitis scores were collected using standardized photographic scales and questionnaire. The statistical analysis was performed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test.
Results: No ocular signs of drug toxicity were reported. During the treatment period for tolerability phase, there were statistically significant higher scores of tearing and ocular discomfort in the tolerability study group versus the tolerability control group. In the efficacy phase, differences between global scores of the two groups were statistically significant at day 0 (score of the efficacy study group was higher than the efficacy control group; P = 0.005) and at day 21 (score of the efficacy study group was lower than the efficacy control group (P ≤ 0.001).The difference of global scores at day 3, 7, 14, and 21 versus day 0 was statistically significant in both groups. No serious adverse events occurred.
Conclusion: The 5% glycyrrhizin ophthalmic solution was well tolerated in healthy volunteers and in patients with chronic moderate/severe blepharitis, and in association with eyelid hygiene showed good clinical anti-inflammatory activity that lasted after instillation suspension.

Keywords: glycyrrhizin, blepharitis, HMGB1