In this study, we found that NLRP3 was minimally expressed in normal conjunctival tissues, and its signalling proteins Cleaved Caspase-1 and Caspase-1 were also slightly expressed, however, in pterygium, the NLRP3/Caspase-1 pathway was abnormally activated, accompanied by the aberrant expression of IL-18 and IL-1β. Here, NLRP3 is linked to pterygium.