Loteprednol Tobramycin (Zylet) — Compare Prices at US & Canada Pharmacies

Zylet (loteprednol-tobramycin) pairs tobramycin with loteprednol etabonate, a corticosteroid engineered specifically to be safer for the eye than older steroids like dexamethasone or prednisolone. Loteprednol is what's called a "soft" or "site-specific" steroid: it's designed to break down into inactive metabolites quickly once it's done acting locally, which gives it a meaningfully lower rate of raising intraocular pressure compared with dexamethasone-based combinations like TobraDex — a real advantage for patients who need a longer steroid course or who are at higher risk for steroid-induced glaucoma. It's used for the same broad category of conditions as other steroid-antibiotic combinations: allergic conjunctivitis, acne rosacea affecting the eye, certain forms of keratitis, iritis, and situations following eye surgery where both inflammation control and infection prevention are needed.

Despite loteprednol's improved pressure profile, the same core contraindication that applies to every ophthalmic steroid-antibiotic combination still applies here in full: Zylet is contraindicated in most viral diseases of the cornea and conjunctiva, including herpes simplex keratitis, vaccinia, and varicella, and in fungal or mycobacterial eye infections — because suppressing local immune defenses with a steroid can let these infections progress substantially before it's apparent something is wrong. This is why any steroid-antibiotic combination, including one with a comparatively favorable safety profile like loteprednol, still requires a confirmed diagnosis from an eye care professional before starting rather than self-treatment of an undiagnosed red eye.

Even with a lower relative risk, prolonged steroid use in any form can still raise intraocular pressure, delay wound healing, and increase cataract risk over time, so Zylet is still meant for a defined, monitored course rather than open-ended use.

Contraindications

4 CONTRAINDICATIONS ZYLET, as with other steroid anti-infective ophthalmic combination drugs, is contraindicated in most viral diseases of the cornea and conjunctiva including epithelial herpes simplex keratitis (dendritic keratitis), vaccinia, and varicella, and also in mycobacterial infection of the eye and fungal diseases of ocular structures.

Pregnancy & breastfeeding

8.1 Pregnancy Risk Summary There are no adequate and well-controlled studies with loteprednol etabonate or tobramycin in pregnant women. Loteprednol etabonate produced teratogenicity at clinically relevant doses in the rabbit and rat when administered orally during pregnancy. Loteprednol etabonate produced malformations when administered orally to pregnant rabbits at doses ≥ 0.54 times the recommended human ophthalmic dose (RHOD) and to pregnant rats at doses ≥ 13 times the RHOD.