PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Jongyeop Park AU - Young-Sik Yoo AU - Eunhae Shin AU - Gyule Han AU - Kyungyoon Shin AU - Dong Hui Lim AU - Tae-Young Chung TI - Effects of the re-esterified triglyceride (rTG) form of omega-3 supplements on dry eye following cataract surgery AID - 10.1136/bjophthalmol-2020-317164 DP - 2021 Nov 01 TA - British Journal of Ophthalmology PG - 1504--1509 VI - 105 IP - 11 4099 - http://bjo.bmj.com/content/105/11/1504.short 4100 - http://bjo.bmj.com/content/105/11/1504.full SO - Br J Ophthalmol2021 Nov 01; 105 AB - Background/Aims To evaluate the clinical outcomes of the systemic re-esterified triglyceride (rTG) form of omega-3 fatty acids in patients with dry eye symptoms after cataract surgery.Methods This prospective comparative cohort study comprised 66 patients complaining of new-onset non-specific typical dry eye 1 month after uncomplicated cataract surgery. Subjects were randomly allocated into control and omega-3 groups based on administration of the systemic rTG form of omega-3 fatty acids for 2 months, in addition to use of artificial teardrop. Ocular surface parameters (Schirmer’s test, tear break-up time, corneal staining score and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9)) and subjective questionnaire results (Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI)) and Dry Eye Questionnaire [DEQ]) for dry eye were evaluated before and after omega-3 supplementation.Results Two months after omega-3 supplementation, the Oxford score was lower in the omega-3 group than in the control group. There was an improvement of subjective symptom scores of OSDI and DEQ in the omega-3 group (both p<0.05). The ratio of increasing MMP-9 level in the omega-3 group was lower than that in the control group (p=0.027).Conclusion The rTG form of omega-3 supplementation might be related to reduction of ocular surface inflammation rather than secretion of tears, and it might be effective for non-specific typical dry eye after uncomplicated cataract surgery.Trial registration Number NCT04411615.