Hydrogel Ocular Inserts for the Treatment of Infectious Bovine Keratoconjunctivitis

Hydrogel coated ring shaped ocular inserts (containing the antibiotic, tylosin tartrate) were used in an evaluation of the effectiveness of polymeric ocular drug release devices for treating infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis. The in vivo experiments represent the first experiments using hydrogel ocular inserts containing an antibiotic for treating infectious bovine keratoconjunctivitis. In the infection tests, ten calves. were challenged with $2.4{\times}10^8{\sim}1.6{\times}10^9$ Moraxella bovis (a bacterium) colonies per eye following two ten minute ultraviolet radiation eye preconditioning exposures. Ninety five percent of the eyes (19 of 20 eyes) were successfully infected by this method. All infected eyes were monitored for the presence of the bacteria quantitiatively, and clinical observations were made for 14 days. The test was performed by three consecutive steps: 1) inoculation with 2 ultraviolet (UV) radiations, 2) growth of bacterial colonies and 3) treatment with medicated ring-shaped devices. The first. bacteriological measurements after 2 UV exposures were performed at day 3 of the tests. At day 7 after inoculation of both eyes of a calf with M. bovis, a medicated or a non-medicated ring-shaped device was inserted into each eye of a calf. The eye receiving the non-medicated ring was taken as a control for comparison with the eye that received a medicated ring. During the next 7 day period following a medicated ring insertion, the number of bacteria in the treated eyes dropped dramatically to negligible levels (0 to 30 colony forming units/swab), while the control eyes which received a non-medicated ring still exhibited a relatively high number of bacteria ($10^3\;to\;10^6$ colony forming units/swab). The number of bacteria was significantly reduced by the antibiotic released from the medicated ocular insert.