Dry eye disease (DED) is a highly prevalent disease worldwide mostly associated with age, though other factors such as screen use and contact lens wear explain why it is increasingly diagnosed in younger people. DED also disproportionately affects women. Symptoms include eye dryness, burning, pain and sensitivity to light that can significantly affect quality of life. This condition may progress to cause lasting damage to the ocular surface if left untreated. Currently, diagnosis is through assessment of signs and symptoms determined by clinical tests and questionnaires. However, there is considerable overlap between normal and DED result distributions of currently available metrics as signs and symptoms fluctuate over time and with disease severity.

Importantly, the non-targeted approach of proteomics means that significant changes in novel proteins may be discovered. Proteomics is a powerful tool that has been applied to the field of DED to understand changes at a biochemical level, uncover new disease biomarkers and determine the success of clinical interventions. While individual proteins may not be sensitive enough when used as single biomarkers, proteomics opens the possibility to uncover several relevant proteins that may be combined in a panel to provide more accurate diagnostic value i.e. parallel testing. In this review we discuss the use of proteomics in DED research and the potential for application of proteomic results in the clinic. We also identify shortcomings and future avenues for research.

干眼病 (DED) 是一种在全球范围内高度流行的疾病，主要与年龄有关，但其他因素（例如屏幕使用和隐形眼镜佩戴）解释了为什么越来越多地在年轻人中诊断出干眼病。DED 对女性的影响也不成比例。症状包括眼睛干涩、灼热、疼痛和对光敏感，这些都会显着影响生活质量。如果不及时治疗，这种情况可能会发展到对眼表造成持久损害。目前，诊断是通过评估临床测试和问卷确定的体征和症状。然而，当前可用指标的正常和 DED 结果分布之间存在相当大的重叠，因为体征和症状会随着时间和疾病严重程度而波动。

重要的是，蛋白质组学的非靶向方法意味着可能会发现新蛋白质的重大变化。蛋白质组学是一种强大的工具，已应用于 DED 领域，以了解生化水平的变化、发现新的疾病生物标志物并确定临床干预的成功。虽然单个蛋白质在用作单一生物标志物时可能不够敏感，但蛋白质组学打开了发现几种相关蛋白质的可能性，这些蛋白质可以组合在一个面板中以提供更准确的诊断价值，即平行测试。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了蛋白质组学在 DED 研究中的应用以及蛋白质组学结果在临床中的应用潜力。我们还确定了研究的不足和未来的途径。