Eye drops being developed in the United States could someday be used to protect soldiers from blindness if they are exposed to mustard blister agent, Wayne State University in Detroit announced last week (see GSN, Dec. 4, 2008).
The research is a collaboration between Wayne State medical school associate professor Gabriel Sosne, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense and RegeneRx Biopharmaceuticals of Bethesda, Md.
Mustard agent can cause eye damage up to blindness, along with significant skin and lung injuries, to anyone who is not wearing protective gear. It has been used repeatedly in conflict, including World War I and by Iraq during its war with Iran in the 1980s.
Testing over the next year is intended to determine to what degree Thymosin Beta 4, through
RGN-259 eye drops, can provide protection when applied prior to or after exposure to chemical agents.
"Soldiers may one day carry RGN-259 drops as part of their normal protection kit, along with their gas masks and protective chemical suits,” Sosne said in a press release. “It may also have very practical applications in industry. It could become part of the standard first aid cabinet in factories and industries employing caustic materials.”
Thymosin Beta 4, which the release calls "a synthetic version of a naturally occurring peptide found in nearly all human cells," has been found to aid recovery of damaged corneas, according to Sosne. It is undergoing clinical trials at RegeneRx (Wayne State University release, July 10).