Jean-Paul Nutraceuticals ColloRx Lanosterol Eye Drops

Lanosterol is the only eye drop on the planet currently that has a real therapeutic effect on cataracts.

*Product will be packaged as 10ml with ColloRX (aquatic collagen).

CATARACTS
Cataracts affect thousands of dogs around the world and are the leading cause of blindness. Cataracts are formed from cross-linking, a process whereby glycated proteins bind with other proteins and form large insoluble amounts of damaged protein that can accumulate in and disrupt the natural arrangement of the lens crystallin fibers. Factors that contribute to this cross-linking include inflammation, inflammatory cytokines produced in generalized allergies, food sensitivities and environmental factors such as excessive direct UV exposure. Currently, the only real solution is surgery as many other earlier therapeutic eye drops (1,2,3,4,5,6) for cataracts have shown only limited success.

SCIENCE
Lanosterol has shown to be the only compound implicated as a potential agent to reverse and ‘dissolve’ cataracts in dogs as shown by Zhao et al. in 2015 (7). They discovered mutations in lanosterol synthase (LSS) that contributed to congenital cataracts in three children from a Caucasian family. LSS synthesizes lanosterol which is a naturally occurring steroid in the lens. It is similar to cholesterol. Lanosterol is a tetracyclic triterpenoid and is the compound from which all animal and fungal steroids are derived.

LANOSTEROL MOLECULE
Molecular Formula: C30H50O
It is an amphipathic molecule, i.e. it is both hydrophilic and hydrophobic.
In Zhao’s in vitro study, lens tissues from rabbits were immersed in a solution of lanosterol for six days in the dark at room temperature; whilst in the in vivo study, dogs’ eyes received intravitreal injections of lanosterol loaded nanoparticles as well as topical lanosterol drops and the outcomes were measured six weeks later. The degree of cataracts assessed by lens clarity before and after the treatment periods was assessed by blinded examiners using an opacification grading system. They found a statistically significant reduction in cataract severity and improvement in lens clarity post-treatment in both studies. They concluded that lanosterol inhibits lens protein aggregation by coating the hydrophobic core areas of large protein aggregates within the lens, thus rendering them water-soluble which improves their clarity.
However, currently the implications for human cataract remains unclear Shanmugam et al. in 2015 (8).