Description

Sterility, which is a mandatory specification for eye drops, represents a critcial step in their manufacturing process. A review of the literature shows that 62% of articles (n=42) addressing the manufacturing process of autologous serum eye drops do not include a filtration step. Among those reporting filtration, slightly over 9% do not specify the porosity used, 4.8% use filters with a porosity of 0.45µm (clarifying filtration), and slightly over 23% use filters with a porosity ≤ 0.22µm ( sterilizing filtration). Several molecules present in autologous serum have been described in the literature, but five are widely recognized as the main contributors to its therapeutic efficacy: EGF, TGF-ß, IGF-1, Fibronectin, and Vitamin A. The impact of sterilizing filtration on the concentrations of thesemolecules in the final serum used for eye drop preparation therefore warrants investigation. Ten patients will be recruited from the ophthalmology department. A pre-screening phase will be conducted to identify eligible patients and propose the study participation. A dedicated follow-up consultation will be organized for inclusion. Serological tests will be performed on the blood samples of eligible patients. Only patients with negative serology for HIV, HBV, HCV and Treponema pallidum will be included. Their serum will be processed, at the Pharmaceutical Preparations Unit, to produce multiple aliquots following coagulation and centrifugation, with subsequentfiltration using 2 different filter materials, with 2 different porosities, or no filtration. These aliquots will then be sent to the Biochemistry department and Pharmacology department for the quantitative analysis of molecules of interest.