Within a few minutes of wear, contact lenses become rapidly coated with a variety of tear film components, including proteins, lipids, and mucins. Tears have a rich and complex composition, allowing a wide range of interactions and competitive processes, with the first event observed at the interface between a contact lens and tear fluid being protein adsorption. Protein adsorption on hydrogel contact lenses is a complex process involving a variety of factors relating to both the protein in question and the lens material. Among tear proteins, lysozyme is a major protein that has both antibacterial and anti-inflammatory functions. Contact lens materials that have high ionicity and high water content have an increased affinity to accumulate lysozyme during wear, when compared with other soft lens materials, notably silicone hydrogel lenses. This review provides an overview of tear film proteins, with a specific focus on lysozyme, and examines various factors that influence protein deposition on contact lenses. In addition, the impact of lysozyme deposition on various ocular physiological responses and bacterial adhesion to lenses and the interaction of lysozyme with other tear proteins are reviewed. This comprehensive review suggests that deposition of lysozyme on contact lens materials may provide a number of beneficial effects during contact lens wear.

Biomaterials used in the ocular environment should exhibit specific tribological behavior to avoid discomfort and stress-induced epithelial damage during blinking. In this study, two macromolecules that are commonly employed as ocular biomaterials, namely, poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) and hyaluronan (HA), are compared with two known model glycoproteins, namely bovine submaxillary mucin (BSM) and α-acid glycoprotein (AGP), with regard to their nonfouling efficiency, wettability, and tribological properties when freely present in the lubricant, enabling spontaneous adsorption, and when chemisorbed under low contact pressures. Chemisorbed coatings were prepared by means of photochemically triggered nitrene insertion reactions. BSM and AGP provided boundary lubrication when spontaneously adsorbed in a hydrophobic contact with a coefficient of friction (CoF) of ∼0.03-0.04. PVP and HA were found to be excellent boundary lubricants when chemisorbed (CoF ≤ 0.01). Notably, high-molecular-weight PVP generated thick adlayers, typically around 14 nm, and was able to reduce the CoF below 0.005 when slid against a BSM-coated poly(dimethylsiloxane) pin in a tearlike fluid.

Purpose-To analyze quantitatively the alterations in the microvascular network of the upper tarsal conjunctiva, lid wiper, and bulbar conjunctiva relative to ocular discomfort after contact lens wear.Design-A prospective, cross-over clinical study.Methods-Functional slit-lamp biomicroscopy (FSLB) was used to image the microvascular network of the upper tarsal conjunctiva, lid wiper, and bulbar conjunctiva. The microvascular network was automatically segmented, and fractal analyses were performed to yield the fractal dimension (D box ) that represented vessel density. Sixteen healthy subjects (nine female and seven male) with an average age of 35.5 ± 6.7 years old (mean ± standard deviation) were recruited. The right eye was imaged at 9 AM and 3 PM at the first visit (Day 1) when the subject was not wearing contact lenses. During the second visit (Day 2), the right eye was fit with a contact lens for 6 h. Microvascular imaging was performed before (at 9 AM) and after lens wear (at 3 PM). Ocular comfort was rated using a 50-point visual analogue scale before and after 6 h of lens wear, and its relationships with microvascular parameters were analyzed.Results-There were no significant differences in D box among the upper tarsal conjunctiva, lid wiper, and bulbar conjunctiva among the measurements at 9 AM (Day 1 and Day 2) and 3 PM Publisher's Disclaimer: This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Financial Disclosures HHS Public AccessAuthor manuscript Am J Ophthalmol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2017 October 01. Author Manuscript Author ManuscriptAuthor Manuscript Author Manuscript (Day 1) when the subjects were not wearing the lenses (P > 0.05), whereas after 6 h of lens wear, the microvascular network densities were increased in all three of these locations. D box of the lid wiper increased from 1.411 ± 0.116 to 1.548 ± 0.079 after 6 h of contact lens wear (P < 0.01). D box of the tarsal conjunctiva was 1.731 ± 0.026 at baseline and increased to 1.740 ± 0.030 (P < 0.05). D box of the bulbar conjunctiva increased from 1.587 ± 0.059 to 1.632 ± 0.060 (P < 0.001). The decrease in ocular discomfort was strongly related to the D box change in the lid wiper (r = 0.61, P < 0.05). There were no correlations between the changes of ocular comfort and the microvascular network densities of either the tarsal or bulbar conjunctivas (P > 0.05).Conclusion-This study is the first to show that the microvascular network of the lid wiper can be quantitatively analyzed in contact lens wearers. The microvascular responses of the lid wiper were significantly correlated with contact lens discomfo...

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the early and selective uptake of lysozyme and the location of deposited lysozyme on contemporary hydrogel contact lens (CL) materials after exposure to an artificial tear solution (ATS) for 16 h. Seven different hydrogel CL materials [polymacon, omafilcon A, nelfilcon A, nesofilcon A, ocufilcon B, etafilcon A (Acuvue Moist), and etafilcon A (Acuvue Define)] were incubated in an ATS for various times. Total protein deposition was determined using a modified Bradford technique. Lysozyme, lactoferrin, and albumin deposition on CLs were determined using I-radiolabeling method. A confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) technique was utilized to map the location of lysozyme uptake in an asymmetric environment. All lens materials had significant amounts of lysozyme after 1 min of exposure to ATS. After 16 h of incubation, higher levels of total protein deposited on the two etafilcon A-based lenses (Moist and Define), followed by ocufilcon B and both were significantly higher than all other CLs tested (p = 0.0001). The two etafilcon A materials (Moist and Define) also deposited the highest amounts of lysozyme (514.8 ± 28.4 and 527.1 ± 14.7 μg/lens respectively) when compared to other test CLs (p = 0.0001). The CLSM technique revealed that the non-ionic CLs tended to have symmetric distribution of lysozyme throughout the lens materials, while the ionic CLs had an asymmetric distribution, with the highest concentration of lysozyme on and near the exposed surface. The quantity and nature of proteins deposited on CLs varies, depending upon the chemical composition of the material. Among the various lenses tested, etafilcon A deposited the highest amount of total protein, most of it represented by lysozyme, which was largely located near the surface of the lens.