Cleaning composition for contact lenses
AssigneeSenju Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
InventorKazumi Ogata
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Proteinaceous matter lodged on the surface of a contact lens is removed in a short period of time by immersion of the lens in an aqueous hypertonic composition containing urea or a salt of guanidine and a reducing agent such as a sulfite, a pyrosulfite, etc. The cleaning effect of the composition increases markedly by addition of a proteolytic enzyme even in an amount not effective when the enzyme is used in the absence of urea or a guanidine salt.
Claims10
A composition for cleaning contact lenses contaminated with proteinaceous matter by immersing the lenses in an aqueous hypertonic solution, said composition comprising urea or an acid salt of guanidine in an amount sufficient to make the solution hypertonic, an effective amount of a sulfhydryl group-containing compound to reduce intermolecular or intramolecular S--S bonds in the contaminant proteinaceous matter and a proteolytic enzyme in an amount sufficient to have a synergistic cleaning effect with the urea or the acid salt of guanidine mentioned above.
A method for removing proteinaceous deposits on contact lenses which comprises immersing the lenses for a period of time sufficient to clean the lenses at room temperature or under heating, in an aqueous composition comprising urea or an acid salt of guanidine in an amount sufficient to make the composition hypertonic, an effective amount of a reducing agent of the group consisting of a sulfite, a pyrosulfite, a dithionite, sodium borohydride and a reducing organic water-soluble mercapto group-containing compound to reduce intermolecular or intramolecular S--S bonds in the contaminant proteinaceous matter, and rinsing the lenses to remove the urea or the acid salt of guanidine and the reducing agent from the lenses.
A method for removing proteinaceous deposits on contact lenses which comprises immersing the lenses for a period of time sufficient to clean the lenses in an aqueous composition comprising urea or an acid salt of guanidine in an amount sufficient to make the composition hypertonic, an effective amount of a sulfhydryl group-containing compound to reduce intermolecular or intramolecular S--S bonds in the contaminant proteinaceous matter and a proteolytic enzyme in an amount sufficient to have a synergistic cleaning effect with the urea or the acid salt of guanidine mentioned above, and rinsing the lenses to remove the urea or the acid salt of guanidine, the sulfhydryl group-containing compound and the proteolytic enzyme from the lenses.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.