Comparison of the Effects of 0.1% Fluorometholone and 1% Prednisolone on Intraocular Pressure and Schirmer Tear Test in Equine Eye.

The research article is about a study that investigated the effect of two drugs, prednisolone and fluorometholone, on the eye of horses. The study did not find any significant effects on intraocular pressure (eye pressure) and Schirmer tear test results, a measure of tear production, after a single dose of either drug.

Study Design and Methodology

• The researchers set up a study with 16 healthy mares of age between 6 to 10 years. The choice of these specific ages was not detailed in the abstract.
• The horses were arbitrarily distributed into two groups. One group was treated with 0.2 ml of 1% prednisolone while the other group was treated with 0.2 ml of 0.1% fluorometholone.
• Both drugs were administered topically in the eye. The contralateral (opposite side) eye of each horse was used as a control and had 0.2 ml of saline administered instead.

Measurements and Results

• Metrics of intraocular pressure (IOP) and Schirmer tear test (STT) were taken from the mares at baseline, and at 30-minute intervals post administration of the eyedrops, for up to 180 minutes (3 hours).
• IOP is a measure of the fluid pressure inside the eye and is a key indicator of eye health. Conversely, the Schirmer tear test measures the rate at which tears are produced and can be used to diagnose dry eye, amongst other conditions.
• The average IOPs at the start for the prednisolone and fluorometholone groups were 28.5mmHg and 27.5mmHg, respectively, while the STT values were 26.0mm/min and 24.0mm/min, respectively. However, neither drug caused significant changes to these measurements over the course of the 3-hour monitoring period.
• Additionally, no significant differences were observed in the STT results between the treated and control eyes. This lack of disparity was also consistent within each group and between the two groups.

Conclusions and Future Research

• The research concluded that a single dose of either 1% prednisolone or 0.1% fluorometholone did not yield significant alterations in the IOP or STT readings in healthy horses over the course of 3 hours post-administration.
• The authors propose that further research is needed, particularly over longer periods, to ascertain whether these findings hold in healthy horses over longer durations or in horses afflicted with health conditions such as uveitis, an inflammation of the middle layer of the eye.