Scientists develop ‘photosynthesis’ therapy for dry eye disease

New research published in Cell has outlined efforts to create a new therapy for dry eye disease by harnessing the photosynthetic power of spinach leaves.

National University of Singapore researchers transplanted the photosynthetic machinery from spinach cells into corneal cells using eye drops.

In preclinical studies, they found that corneal damage was restored to near-healthy levels over the course of five days.

The eye drops helped to alleviate oxidative stress and inflammation through the production of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate hydrogen (NADPH).

Study author, Dr Xing Kuoran, of the National University of Singapore, described the research findings as “exciting.”

“We have, for the first time, demonstrated that plant photosynthetic machinery can be transplanted into mammalian tissue to generate biologically useful molecules, powered entirely by the same light that enables our vision. We, too, can have limited photosynthetic abilities,” he said.

In laboratory tests using inflamed cells, the eye drops switched immune cells in the cornea from a pro-inflammatory to an anti-inflammatory state.

Associate professor, David Leong, highlighted that the new eye drop could help to restore a molecule (NADPH) that dry eye depletes.

“As it is derived from spinach, delivered as a simple eye drop, requires no external device or power source and using the ambient light that is used for vision, we believe it has a strong potential for clinical translation,” he emphasised.