## 3 Results
### LC-MS Analysis  
An LC-MS analysis successfully detected the aloesin content in the aqueous media after the release of therapeutic lens incubation, as seen in Figure 3.  
The total ion current from the analysis revealed the complexity of the examined mixture (Figure 3a). In this context, aloesin was identified by extracted ion current (Figure 3b) and isotopic pattern analysis (Figure 3c) using an \(m/z\) of 393.11.  
The amount of aloesin released from the two lenses was different, as demonstrated by the overlapping peaks reported in Figure 4.  
Figure 3: Aloesin content in the aqueous media after the release of therapeutic lens incubation measured with LC–MS analysis. The total ion current from the analysis revealed the complexity of the examined mixture (**a**). Aloesin was identified by the extracted ion current (**b**) and isotopic pattern analysis (**c**) using an \(m/z\) of 393.11.  
The aloesin amounts released from ionic and non-ionic lens are reported in blue and in red colors, respectively. Figure 4 reports data obtained at 2 and 24 h. The blue peak overwhelms the red peak at all tested times, thus indicating the more abundant release of aloesin from the ionic lens compared to the non-ionic lens.  
Furthermore, the blue peak is higher at 24 h than at 2 h, indicating an increasing release of aloesin from the ionic lens over time. Conversely, the red peak is lower at 24 h than at 2 h, indicating a decreased release of aloesin from the non-ionic lens over time.  
The quantification of these results for all tested times is reported in Figure 5.  
Figure 4: Aloesin amount released from ionic and non-ionic lens after 2 and 24 h. The blue peak overwhelms the red peak at all tested times, thus indicating the more abundant release of aloesin from the ionic lens compared to the non-ionic lens.  
Figure 5: The aloesin release was higher for the ionic lens than non-ionic lens at all times tested. For the ionic lens, the regression line equation displays a positive angular coefficient with a high R\({}_{2}\) value, thus indicating a continuous aloesin release from the lens increasing from 2 to 24 h. For the non-ionic lens, the regression line equation displays a negative angular coefficient with a high R\({}_{2}\) value, thus indicating a decrease of aloesin release from the lens from 2 to 24 h.  
As inferred from the histogram, the aloesin release was higher for the ionic lens than for the non-ionic lens at all times tested. For the ionic lens, the regression line equation displays a positive angular coefficient with a high R\({}_{2}\) value, thus indicating a continuous aloesin release from the lens increasing from 2 to 24 h. For the non-ionic lens, the regression line equation displays a negative angular coefficient with a high R\({}_{2}\) value, thus indicating a decrease of aloesin release from the lens from 2 to 24 h.  
The release kinetics for the ionic lens underwent two phases: the early phase (0.5-2 h) characterized by a slow release and a late phase (6-24 h) characterized by a high and increasing release. These kinetics were not observed for non-ionic lens, where a stable decrease over time of the release was observed.