Anti-demodex effect of commercial eyelid hygiene products

Purpose To investigate in vitro effects of active ingredients in eye cleansing wipes and solutions on the life span of Demodex. Methods Demodex mites were extracted by eyelash epilation method from volunteers who were found to have chronic demodex blepharitis during an ophthalmological examination. Preparations with three or more motile, live adult Demodex parasites were included in the study. Two drops of the test solution were dropped on the samples: saline, 2% tea tree oil (TTO; Osto (R), AKD Medical products, Turkey), 7.5% TTO (Blefaritto (R), Jeomed, Turkey), and 0.5% terpinen-4-ol (T4O; Blefastop plus (R), NTC, Italy). Under light microscopy at 100x and 400x magnification, samples were examined and followed. The average killing time of Demodex was noted for each preparation. Results The study was analyzed on 120 patient samples. In the control group with saline, the average killing time of Demodex had an average of 323.5 +/- 21.1 min. In other groups, an average mean of 95.9 +/- 25.2 min in the 2% TTO group, 67.1 +/- 21.8 min in the 7.5% TTO group, and 27.3 +/- 6.0 min in the 0.5% T4O group was observed. It was found that the 0.5% T4O group was significantly more effective than the other groups. Conclusion Chronic Demodex blepharitis treatment is quite difficult in ophthalmology practice. It appears that, even at very low concentrations, T4O has an effective anti-Demodex effect.