Demodex Blepharitis Treatment Study

Summary

This is a randomized clinical trial to determine the safety and efficacy of terpinen-4-ol (T4O), the most active ingredient of tea tree oil (TTO), in eradicating ocular demodicosis (reducing ocular demodex counts and achieving the clinical improvement with minimal or no irritation).

Timeline

Start

2014-02

Primary completion

2015-06

Completion

2015-07

Publications

• Background Gao YY, Di Pascuale MA, Li W, Liu DT, Baradaran-Rafii A, Elizondo A, Kawakita T, Raju VK, Tseng SC. High prevalence of Demodex in eyelashes with cylindrical dandruff. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2005 Sep;46(9):3089-94. doi: 10.1167/iovs.05-0275.
• Background Gao YY, Di Pascuale MA, Li W, Baradaran-Rafii A, Elizondo A, Kuo CL, Raju VK, Tseng SC. In vitro and in vivo killing of ocular Demodex by tea tree oil. Br J Ophthalmol. 2005 Nov;89(11):1468-73. doi: 10.1136/bjo.2005.072363.
• Background Gao YY, Di Pascuale MA, Elizondo A, Tseng SC. Clinical treatment of ocular demodecosis by lid scrub with tea tree oil. Cornea. 2007 Feb;26(2):136-43. doi: 10.1097/01.ico.0000244870.62384.79.
• Background Kheirkhah A, Casas V, Li W, Raju VK, Tseng SC. Corneal manifestations of ocular demodex infestation. Am J Ophthalmol. 2007 May;143(5):743-749. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2007.01.054. Epub 2007 Mar 21.
• Background Kheirkhah A, Blanco G, Casas V, Tseng SC. Fluorescein dye improves microscopic evaluation and counting of demodex in blepharitis with cylindrical dandruff. Cornea. 2007 Jul;26(6):697-700. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0b013e31805b7eaf.
• Background Li J, O'Reilly N, Sheha H, Katz R, Raju VK, Kavanagh K, Tseng SC. Correlation between ocular Demodex infestation and serum immunoreactivity to Bacillus proteins in patients with Facial rosacea. Ophthalmology. 2010 May;117(5):870-877.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2009.09.057. Epub 2010 Jan 15.
• Background Liang L, Safran S, Gao Y, Sheha H, Raju VK, Tseng SC. Ocular demodicosis as a potential cause of pediatric blepharoconjunctivitis. Cornea. 2010 Dec;29(12):1386-91. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0b013e3181e2eac5.
• Background Liu J, Sheha H, Tseng SC. Pathogenic role of Demodex mites in blepharitis. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010 Oct;10(5):505-10. doi: 10.1097/ACI.0b013e32833df9f4.
• Background Gao YY, Xu DL, Huang lJ, Wang R, Tseng SC. Treatment of ocular itching associated with ocular demodicosis by 5% tea tree oil ointment. Cornea. 2012 Jan;31(1):14-7. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0b013e31820ce56c.

Drugs

Indications