Although dry eye disease (DED) is one of the most common ocular surface diseases worldwide, its pathogenesis is incompletely understood, and treatment options are limited. There is growing evidence that complex interactions between the ocular surface microbiome (OSM) and tear fluid constituents, potentially leading to inflammatory processes, are associated with ocular surface diseases such as DED. In this study, we aimed to find unique compositional and functional features of the OSM associated with human and microbial tear proteins in patients with DED.

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