Introduction: Allergic conjunctivitis is the most common allergic ocular disorder that is closely related to cell-mediated immunity and activator cytokines. Tacrolimus is a macrolide antibiotic which inhibits T-cell and cellular immunity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of topical tacrolimus ointment on allergic conjunctivitis.
 
Materials & methods: In this clinical trial, 202 patients with allergic conjunctivitis in Arak Imam Reza clinic were randomly divided into two groups including: 1- Standard treatment, 2- standard treatment plus tacrolimus. Three clinical symptoms, i.e. pruritus, pain and photosensitivity were evaluated by visual analog scale (VAS) and two signs, i.e. edema and erythema based on examination before and a month after treatment were compared.
 
Findings: Mean of VAS score for pruritus, pain and photosensitivity were significantly lowered after treatment by tacrolimus than standard group (p<0.05). Erythema and edema were significantly improved by tacrolimus, too. (p <0.05)
 
Discussion & conclusions: Adding topical tacrolimus ointment to standard treatments is very effective in allergic conjunctivitis and in severe cases it can be used.