Blepharitis

Summary

Blepharitis (MONDO:0004785) is a disease (an umbrella term covering 6 Mondo subtypes) with 2 GWAS associations across 18 studies and 52 clinical trials. Top therapeutic interventions include doxycycline anhydrous, loteprednol etabonate, and azithromycin. A subtype of eyelid disorder — broader associated-gene and molecular evidence is on the parent page (see Disease family below).

At a glance

• Umbrella term: 6 Mondo subtypes
• GWAS associations: 2
• Clinical trials: 52

Clinical features

No curated clinical features (Orphanet) for this disease.

Identifiers

Disease identifiers

Field	Value
Canonical name	blepharitis
Mondo ID	MONDO:0004785
EFO	EFO:0009536
MeSH	D001762
DOID	DOID:9423
ICD-10-CM	H01.0
NCIT	C112183
SNOMED CT	41446000
UMLS	C0005741
MedGen	598
Is cancer (heuristic)	no

Also known as: eyelid inflammation · inflammation of eyelid

Data availability: 2 GWAS associations (18 studies).

Disease family

This is a subtype of eyelid disorder. Genetic, therapeutic, and trial evidence is largely curated at the broader-term level — see the parent page for the associated-gene cohort and molecular evidence.

Classification path: disease › human disease › disease by body system or component › disorder of orbital region › eye adnexa disorder › eyelid disorder › blepharitis

Related subtypes (19): eyelid degenerative disorder, blepharophimosis, hypertrichosis of eyelid, hypotrichosis of eyelid, entropion, lagophthalmos, stenosis of lacrimal punctum, stenosis of lacrimal passage, ectropion, eyelid neoplasm, blepharochalasis, eyelid hypopigmentation, telecanthus, cryptophthalmia, epiblepharon, congenital eyelid retraction, herpes zoster with dermatitis of eyelid, eyelid seborrheic keratosis, dermatosis of eyelid

Subtypes (6): parasitic eyelid infestation, squamous blepharitis, noninfectious dermatoses of eyelid, blepharoconjunctivitis, ulcerative blepharitis, hordeolum

Genetics & variants

GWAS landscape

2 GWAS associations across 18 studies. Top hits map to 1 distinct genes (as reported by GWAS).

Top associations by p-value

rsID	p-value	Gene	Risk allele	Odds ratio
rs1805007	3e-12	MC1R	C	0.09
rs13178063	1e-07	LINC02227 - EBF1	?

Top studies (by case count)

Study	Lead author	Year	Cases	Controls	Title
GCST90475888	Verma A	2024	37,507	369,186	Diversity and scale: Genetic architecture of 2068 traits in the VA Million Veteran Program.
GCST90477742	Verma A	2024	8,636	101,547	Diversity and scale: Genetic architecture of 2068 traits in the VA Million Veteran Program.
GCST90481129	Verma A	2024	8,636	101,547	Diversity and scale: Genetic architecture of 2068 traits in the VA Million Veteran Program.
GCST90473377	UK Biobank Whole-Genome Sequencing Consortium	2025	5,816	452,624	Whole-genome sequencing of 490,640 UK Biobank participants.
GCST90477741	Verma A	2024	3,623	51,121	Diversity and scale: Genetic architecture of 2068 traits in the VA Million Veteran Program.
GCST90079867	Backman JD	2021	2,724	377,649	Exome sequencing and analysis of 454,787 UK Biobank participants.
GCST90083853	Backman JD	2021	2,724	377,649	Exome sequencing and analysis of 454,787 UK Biobank participants.
GCST90436007	Zhou W	2018	2,396	399,306	Efficiently controlling for case-control imbalance and sample relatedness in large-scale genetic association studies.
GCST90043792	Jiang L	2021	2,119	454,229	A generalized linear mixed model association tool for biobank-scale data.
GCST90079866	Backman JD	2021	1,881	381,491	Exome sequencing and analysis of 454,787 UK Biobank participants.

Variant details and genetic-evidence tiers

Tier distribution (top 50 variants)

Tier	Variants
Tier 1: coding	1
Tier 2: splice/UTR	0
Tier 3: regulatory	0
Tier 4: intronic/intergenic	1

MAF distribution

Bucket	Variants
common (>=0.05)	2
low_freq (0.01-0.05)	0
rare (<0.01)	0
unknown	0

Functional consequences

Consequence	Count
missense_variant	1
intergenic_variant	1

Top variants

rsID	Chr	Pos	Alleles	MAF	Consequence	Gene	p-value	Tier
rs1805007	16	89919709	C>A,G,T	0.082	missense_variant	MC1R	3e-12	Tier 1: coding
rs13178063	5	158663343	A>G	0.05	intergenic_variant	LINC02227 - EBF1	1e-07	Tier 4: intronic/intergenic

Genes & proteins

No associated-gene cohort resolved for this disease. Atlas builds the molecular and therapeutic sections — associated genes, protein families, druggability, pathways, interactions, and drug associations — by aggregating over a disease’s associated genes (resolved via GWAS / GenCC / ClinVar / CIViC), and none resolved here. This is expected for antibody-mediated, autoimmune, or otherwise non-gene-defined conditions; the curated evidence for this disease is its clinical features, GWAS susceptibility, and clinical trials (above).

Function

No pathway enrichment — requires an associated-gene cohort.

Therapeutics

Drugs indicated for this disease

0 approved, 6 in late-stage (phase 3) trials. Disease-direct ChEMBL indications, not inferred from the associated-gene cohort below.

Drug	Development status
Azithromycin	Phase 3 (in late-stage trials)
Dexamethasone	Phase 3 (in late-stage trials)
Ivermectin	Phase 3 (in late-stage trials)
Lotilaner	Phase 3 (in late-stage trials)
Metronidazole	Phase 3 (in late-stage trials)
Tobramycin	Phase 3 (in late-stage trials)

Earlier-phase candidates (phase 2, investigational — efficacy not yet established): Fluticasone Propionate, Loteprednol Etabonate, Povidone.

Clinical trials & evidence

Clinical trials

Clinical trials: 52.

Phase distribution (across all retrieved trials)

Phase	Trials
Not specified	20
PHASE2	12
PHASE4	9
PHASE3	9
PHASE2/PHASE3	1
PHASE1	1

Top trials by phase / activity

NCT	Phase	Status	Title
NCT00629590	PHASE4	COMPLETED	Safety and Efficacy Pilot Study of AzaSite (Azithromycin) in Subjects With Blepharitis
NCT00629941	PHASE4	COMPLETED	Safety and Efficacy Study of AzaSite® in Subjects With Blepharitis
NCT00629980	PHASE4	COMPLETED	Safety and Efficacy Pilot Study of AzaSite® (Azithromycin) in Subjects With Blepharitis
NCT00656539	PHASE4	COMPLETED	Safety and Efficacy Pilot Study of AzaSite® for Four Weeks in Subjects With Blepharitis
NCT00803452	PHASE4	COMPLETED	Lipids of the Human Tear Film and Their Effect on Tear Stability
NCT01357538	PHASE4	COMPLETED	Efficacy and Safety of Posiformin 2 % Eye Ointment in the Treatment of Blepharitis
NCT01478256	PHASE4	COMPLETED	Comparative Study in the Efficacy of Topical Besifloxocin With Erythromycin for the Management of Acute Blepharitis
NCT06795165	PHASE4	COMPLETED	Study of the Safety and Efficacy of Moxidectin Tablets for the Reduction of Demodex Eyelash Infestation
NCT07451678	PHASE4	COMPLETED	Treatment of Blepharitis Induced by Demodex Folliculorum Through Eyelid Cleansing With Wipes Containing Topical Chlorhexidine
NCT00732446	PHASE3	COMPLETED	Safety/Efficacy of Antibiotic Steroid Combination in Treatment of Blepharitis and/or Keratitis and/or Conjunctivitis
NCT00796926	PHASE3	COMPLETED	Trial to Compare the Efficacy of Systane Ultra and Refresh Drop in the Treatment of Dry Eye in Asian Eyes
NCT01028027	PHASE3	COMPLETED	Loteprednol and Tobramycin Versus Tobramycin and Dexamethasone, in the Treatment of Blepharokeratoconjunctivitis
NCT01102244	PHASE3	COMPLETED	A Study to Evaluate the Clinical Efficacy and Safety of Tobradex® ST Compared to Azasite® in the Treatment of Subjects With Moderate to Severe Chronic Blepharitis
NCT01408082	PHASE3	COMPLETED	Efficacy and Safety Study of a Steroid/Antibiotic Combination Eyedrop to Treat Non-Bacterial Blepharitis
NCT02236403	PHASE3	COMPLETED	Treatment of Demodex Blepharitis With Ivermectin Gel 0.1% Plus Metronidazole 1%
NCT04475432	PHASE2/PHASE3	COMPLETED	Safety and Efficacy of TP-03 for the Treatment of Demodex Blepharitis
NCT04784091	PHASE3	COMPLETED	Trial to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of TP-03 for the Treatment of Demodex Blepharitis
NCT05629390	PHASE3	COMPLETED	Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of TP-03, LIBRA Study
NCT06400511	PHASE3	TERMINATED	A Phase 3 Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Pimecrolimus 0.3% Ophthalmic Ointment
NCT06720896	PHASE2	ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING	A Phase 2, Controlled, Double Blind, Randomized and Multicenter Study to Compare Efficacy and Safety of a Novel Topical Therapy (APT-001, Spinosad 1.8%) in Patients With Blepharitis.
NCT00560703	PHASE2	COMPLETED	Treatment of Patients With Blepharitis and Facial Rosacea
NCT00892970	PHASE2	COMPLETED	The Effects of Azithromycin Ophthalmic Solution, 1% Versus Placebo in Subjects With Blepharitis During a Two-Week Treatment Period
NCT00894530	PHASE2	COMPLETED	The Effects of Azithromycin Ophthalmic Solution, 1% Versus Placebo in Subjects With Blepharitis During a Four-Week Treatment Period (P08638)
NCT01073150	PHASE2	COMPLETED	Tea Tree Oil in the Treatment of Chronic Blepharitis
NCT01089608	PHASE2	COMPLETED	Efficacy and Safety Assessment of Azyter® Eye Drops (T1225) in Patients With Blepharitis
NCT01269658	PHASE2	TERMINATED	A Four Week Study of Azithromycin Ophthalmic Solution, 1% Versus Vehicle in Subjects With Blepharitis (P08636)
NCT02218489	PHASE2	COMPLETED	Safety and Efficacy of KPI-121 in Subjects With Inflammatory Meibomian Gland Disease
NCT03926026	PHASE2	COMPLETED	Study Evaluating the Safety and Tolerability of NCX 4251 for the Treatment of Acute Exacerbations of Blepharitis
NCT04675242	PHASE2	COMPLETED	Study Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of NCX 4251 Ophthalmic Suspension for the Treatment of Blepharitis
NCT05454956	PHASE2	COMPLETED	Pilot Study Comparing the Safety and Efficacy of Two Dosing Regimens of TP-03 for the Treatment of MGD
NCT06054217	PHASE2	UNKNOWN	Effect of an Exploratory Vehicle on Meibomian Gland Dysfunction in Patients With Demodex
NCT01647217	PHASE1	COMPLETED	Demodex Blepharitis Treatment Study
NCT04603222	Not specified	RECRUITING	Evaluation of SUMMIT BRUSH in Treatment of Blepharitis
NCT06371300	Not specified	RECRUITING	Photobiomodulation With REd vs BluE Light (REBEL)
NCT07431385	Not specified	RECRUITING	Performance and Safety of IRIDIUM GARZE in Blepharitis or Blepharconjunctivitis Adjuvant Treatment
NCT00008541	Not specified	COMPLETED	Evaluation and Treatment of Patients With Corneal and External Diseases
NCT01115192	Not specified	COMPLETED	Blephacura Versus Baby Shampoo to Treat Blepharitis
NCT01560962	Not specified	TERMINATED	Efficacy of Over the Counter (OTC) Povidone-Ioldine 5% for Treatment of Acute or Chronic Blepharitis
NCT01808560	Not specified	COMPLETED	Treatment of Meibomian Gland Dysfunction Prior to Cataract Surgery
NCT02386774	Not specified	COMPLETED	Innovative Imaging of the Conjunctiva, Cornea, and Ocular Adnexa

Drugs tested across these trials (top 30)

Molecule	Max phase	Trials referencing
DOXYCYCLINE ANHYDROUS	4	3
LOTEPREDNOL ETABONATE	4	2
AZITHROMYCIN	4	1
ERYTHROMYCIN	4	1
IVERMECTIN	4	1
LOTILANER	4	1
MOXIFLOXACIN	4	1
PIMECROLIMUS	4	1
POVIDONE	4	1
POVIDONE-IODINE	4	1
TOBRAMYCIN	4	1
LOTEPREDNOL	3	1
BIBROCATHOL	2	1
CHEMBL4299381	0	1
CHEMBL1823688	0	1
CHEMBL263291	0	1
CHEMBL4082099	0	1
CHEMBL4788951	0	1
CHEMBL5424182	0	1
TERPINEOL	0	1
VEHICLE	0	1