Application of Dimethyl Sulfoxide as a Therapeutic Agent and Drug Vehicle for Eye Diseases

Abstract

Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) is an amphipathic molecule widely used as a solvent for water-insoluble substances, cryopreserving, and cell-biological therapies. It has known properties as an inducer of cellular differentiation, a free radical scavenger, and a radioprotectant. In addition, DMSO is used for its various therapeutic and pharmaceutical properties, such as anti-inflammatory, local and systemic analgesic, antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and membrane penetration enhancement agents. DMSO treatment can be given orally, intravenously, or topically for a wide range of indications. The administration of DMSO exhibits favorable outcomes in human eye diseases with low to none observed ocular or systemic ocular toxicity. Nevertheless, DMSO is an essential and nonpatentable potential therapeutic agent that remains underexplored and ignored by pharmaceutical developers and ophthalmologists. This current review takes data from experimental and clinical studies that have been published to substantiate the potential therapeutic efficacy of DMSO and stimulate the research of its application in clinical ophthalmology. Given that DMSO is inexpensive, safe, and easily formulated into therapeutic medicinal products and conventional ophthalmological drugs, this compound should be further explored and studied in the treatment of a variety of acute and chronic ocular disorders.

Mesenchymal stem cell therapy in aqueous deficient dry eye disease

“…Additionally, DMSO is commonly used to enhance the solubility of drugs in aqueous solutions and to improve membrane penetration, thereby increasing the efficacy of medical treatments (Marren, 2011). This has been demonstrated in studies regarding topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) in osteoarthritis (Bookman et al, 2004;Simon et al, 2009;Tugwell et al, 2004) and in intraarticular injections of corticosteroids, where combining the active treatment with DMSO yielded better results compared to the active treatment alone (Hoang et al, 2021). The decision to use the vehicle, CryoStor® CS10, as a comparator served two purposes: to assess the specific effects of the ASCs and to mitigate the potential risks of using another solution such as isotonic saline, which lacks previous human studies testing of injection into the LG.…”

Selection of an Appropriate In Vitro Susceptibility Test for Assessing Anti-Pythium insidiosum Activity of Potassium Iodide, Triamcinolone Acetonide, Dimethyl Sulfoxide, and Ethanol

“…Various DMSO concentrations have been applied for many medical and scientific purposes. For example, 90% DMSO is commonly used in skin diseases [186], and 50% DMSO shows a treatment benefit in eye diseases and interstitial cystitis [187,188]. For a laboratory experiment involving cell culture, 10% DMSO is used as a cryo-preservative agent [189].…”

Hydrogen Ion Dynamics as the Fundamental Link Between Neurodegenerative Diseases and Cancer. Its Application to the Therapeutics of Neurodegenerative Diseases with Special Emphasis in Multiple Sclerosis

“…No increases in Na + levels, salt retention or blood pressure changes have been observed Still, Na + , K + and BUN should be checked at least monthly during this treatment. Recently, the use of DMSO, given orally, topically or intravenously, has also been used in treating autoimmune and ocular diseases [303]. Therefore, it is important to know how DMSO is formulated and used: Clinical formulation and dosages of the SB+DMSO mixture Thirty-four percent DMSO (99.9% pharmaceutical quality/99.9% purity), 64% double-distilled water and 2% SB.…”