Oral sea buckthorn oil attenuates tear film osmolarity and symptoms in individuals with dry eye
Larmo PS
Published in Journal of Nutrition
Methodology
Double-blind, randomised, parallel-group trial; 2 g/day oral sea buckthorn oil versus placebo for 3 months; clinical dry eye tests including tear film osmolarity plus symptom follow-up, analysed by intention to treat and per protocol.
Key Findings
100 adults aged 20-75 with dry eye symptoms were randomised to 2 g/day of sea buckthorn oil or placebo for 3 months from fall to winter, with 86 completing. Tear film osmolarity rose overall across the season, but the increase was significantly smaller in the sea buckthorn group both in the intention-to-treat analysis (p = 0.04) and per protocol (p = 0.02). Maximum intensity of redness was significantly lower in the intention-to-treat analysis (p = 0.04) and burning in the per-protocol analysis (p = 0.04), with the reverse comparisons falling just short of significance.
Conclusions
Sea buckthorn oil attenuated the increase in tear film osmolarity during the cold season and positively affected the dry eye symptoms.
Limitations
Modest sample with 14 dropouts, a 3-month seasonal window, and benefit shown as a smaller rise in osmolarity rather than improvement; symptom findings were inconsistent between the intention-to-treat and per-protocol analyses.
Related Health Concerns
Study Details
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