Trial reportTranslational vision science & technology2023
Effects of Carboxymethylcellulose Artificial Tears on Ocular Surface Microbiome Diversity and Composition, A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Trial report in Translational vision science & technology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05292755 (Effects of Carboxymethylcellulose Artificial Tears on the Eye Microbiome), which is not on this map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effects of Carboxymethylcellulose Artificial Tears on the Eye Microbiome: a Randomized, Controlled, Double-Blind Study
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 6 citations in OpenAlex.
- Harnessing exosomes in dry eye disease: a triple threat approach.BMC ophthalmology · 2026Pooled it
- Multi-cohort analysis identifying core ocular surface microbiome and bacterial alterations in eye diseases.Eye (London, England) · 2025Article
- Colonization with resistant bacteria in hospital employees: an epidemiological surveillance and typing study.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2024Article
- The Ocular Microbiome: Micro-Steps Towards Macro-Shift in Targeted Treatment? A Comprehensive Review.Microorganisms · 2024Review
- Exploring the Ocular Surface Microbiome and Tear Proteome in Glaucoma.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Assessing the Effects of 0.3% Carboxymethylcellulose Tear Substitute Treatment on Symptoms and Signs of Dry Eye Disease in Elderly Population: A Prospective Longitudinal Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Purpose: Carboxymethylcellulose is an artificial tear ingredient known to decrease gut microbiome diversity when ingested. This study examines the effect of carboxymethylcellulose on ocular surface microbiome diversity and composition. Methods: Healthy adult participants without significant ophthalmic disease or concurrent carboxymethylcellulose artificial tear use were allocated randomly to take carboxymethylcellulose or control polyethylene glycol artificial tears for seven days. Conjunctival swabs were collected before and after artificial tear treatment. This trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05292755). Primary outcomes included abundance of bacterial taxa and microbiome diversity as measured by the Chao-1 richness estimate, Shannon's phylogenetic diversity index, and UniFrac analysis. Secondary outcomes included Ocular Surface Disease Index scores and artificial tear compliance. Results: Of the 80 enrolled participants, 66 completed the trial. Neither intervention affected Chao-1 richness (analysis of variance [ANOVA], P = 0.231) or Shannon's diversity index (ANOVA, P = 0.224). Microbiome samples did not separate by time point (permutation multivariate analysis of variance [PERMANOVA], P = 0.223) or intervention group (PERMANOVA, P = 0.668). LEfSe taxonomic analysis revealed that carboxymethylcellulose depleted several taxa including Bacteroides and Lachnoclostridium, but enriched Enterobacteriaceae, Citrobacter, and Gordonia. Both interventions decreased OSDI scores (Wilcoxon signed rank test, P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between interventions (Mann-Whitney U, P = 0.54). Conclusions: Carboxymethylcellulose artificial tears increased Actinobacteriota but decreased Bacteroides and Firmicutes bacteria. Carboxymethylcellulose artificial tears do not affect ocular surface microbiome diversity and are not significantly more effective than polyethylene glycol artificial tears for dry eye treatment. Translational Relevance: The 16S microbiome analysis has revealed small changes in the ocular surface microbiome associated with artificial tear use.
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.