Abstract
Purpose: :
Evidence suggests that exogenous testosterone supplementation can elevate blood pressure especially in those with pre-existing hypertension. The prevalence of hypertension is higher in men than women until menopause. At menopause dry eye is most responsive to testosterone cream. The present study examines the effect of transdermal testosterone therapy to treat dry eye on systemic blood pressure.
Methods: :
Thirty dry eye patients all female with an average age of 51.86 yrs that ranged from 22 to 76 years were enrolled in this study. Baseline data collected were a Tear Breakup Time (TBUT) and digital sphygmomanometry. After applying the testosterone cream to the eyelids twice a day for one month these same tests were repeated. Statistical significance was determined by a two tail t-test with post hoc test for significance.
Results: :
The average TBUT of these 30 patients prior to treatment was 3.53 +/- 2.3 seconds with a range of zero to 10 seconds. After treatment with testosterone the TBUT increased to 7.11 +/- 3.6 seconds with a range of 1 to 19 seconds. This increase in TBUT was statistically significant at p=.05 level. Blood pressure (BP) prior to treatment was systolic 126.92+/- 15.63 and a diastolic of 78.92+/- 12.18. Post testosterone treatment the blood pressure decreased slightly to 121.11+/-16.86 over 75.16 +/- 9.95. This decrease was not statistically significant. Only 2 patients had an increase in BP of about 10 mmHg. There were 5 patients had a BP that exceeded the recommended 130/90. This mildly hypertensive group demonstrated no increase in BP. It was noteworthy one patient actually decreased from 176/118 to 162/89.
Conclusions: :
It appears that short term treatment with 5% transdermal testosterone cream for dry eye enhances female patient TBUT but does not significantly impact the patient’s blood pressure
Keywords: cornea: tears/tear film/dry eye • cornea: clinical science