A weakness of this study is use of the anticholinergic agent scopolamine to suppress tear production in the established DS dry eye model because systemically administered scopolamine has been found to increase levels of phosphorylated NF-kB, as well as NLRP3 inflammasome components (NLRP3 and caspase-1) in various regions of the brain.17 Here, CASP1 is linked to Keratoconjunctivitis sicca.