MINI REVIEW article
Front. Ophthalmol.
Sec. Inflammatory Eye Diseases
This article is part of the Research TopicMolecular Mechanisms and Pathophysiology of Dry Eye Disease and Meibomian Gland DysfunctionView all 6 articles
Cyclosporine A in the Treatment of Dry Eye Disease: A narrative review
Provisionally accepted
- 1Baotou Chaoju Eye Hospital, Baotou, China
- 2Benxi Central Hospital, Benxi, China
- 3The First Affiliated Hospital of Baotou Medical College, Baotou, China
- 4Yantai Huaxia Kang'ai Ophthalmic Hospital, Yantai, China
- 5The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Meidical University, Nanning, China
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Dry eye disease (DED) is a common chronic ocular surface disorder that significantly impacts quality of life. Its pathogenesis involves disruption of immune regulatory mechanisms and ocular surface inflammation, which mutually reinforce each other in a vicious cycle. Conventional treatments, such as artificial tears and meibomian gland care, alleviate symptoms but often fail to control underlying inflammation. Anti-inflammatory therapy is therefore crucial. Traditional agents like corticosteroids provide rapid relief but carry risks with long-term use. Cyclosporine A, an immunosuppressant, offers unique advantages by inhibiting T-cell activation, reducing pro-inflammatory cytokines, enhancing tear secretion, and restoring the ocular surface. Clinical and experimental studies have consistently demonstrated its efficacy and safety in improving tear production, relieving symptoms, repairing ocular surface structures, and slowing disease progression. This review summarizes the mechanisms, recent clinical evidence, and future perspectives of topical cyclosporine A in DED treatment, providing a reference for rational clinical use and novel therapeutic development.
Keywords: Dry eye disease, Cyclosporine A, Inflammation, Immune Modulation, review
Received: 13 Sep 2025; Accepted: 05 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bian, Ma, Liu, Feng, Liu, Zhang and Huang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Baoyu Huang, huangbaoyu2025@163.com
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