Abstract
Purpose :
This clinical study investigated the magnitude of bacterial load reduction on the surface of the skin 20 minutes after application of saline containing 0.01% pure hypochlorous acid as the preservative (Avenova with Neutrox) to the skin below the lower eyelid.
Methods :
Subjects with eyelid conditions that would typically be treated using lid wipes and warm compresses were enrolled into the open-label portion of clinical study CM 01-14. A microbiological specimen was collected by passing a cotton swab over an approximately 1 square centimeter area of the skin surface immediately before applying the eyelid cleanser and again twenty minutes later. The collected swabs were sent to IHMA Laboratories (Schaumburg, IL) for quantitative recovery of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. All different colony morphologies were enumerated and processed to identify the actual species.
Results :
Specimens were collected and processed from the skin below the lower eyelid of 71 eyes of 36 subjects. At time = 0, 194 unique bacterial strains belonging to 33 different species were identified. At time = +20 minutes, 138 unique bacterial strains belonging to 26 different species were recovered. No substantive differences in the species of Gram-positives, anaerobes, or Gram-negatives before and after test article application were evident.
The quantitative data for strains of specific species were paired (before and after application of the test article) for all skin specimens and demonstrated a 90% reduction in viable bacteria. Staphylococci comprised 61% of all strains recovered and S. epidermidis strains accounted for 60% of the staphylococcal strains. Both S. epiderimidis and all staphylococci were reduced by >90%. In addition, anaerobic bacteria, all Gram-positive strains and all Gram-negative strains were reduced by >90%.
Conclusions :
The application of saline containing pure hypochlorous acid did not alter the diversity of bacteria recovered from the surface in any significant way. However, it did reduce the viable bacterial load and thus potentially clinically significant bacterial overpopulation by >90%.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.