翼状胬肉的诱因尚未完全明确,紫外线暴露可能是此病的最大诱因。翼状胬肉更常见于生活在强紫外线地区的居民和户外工作者。[3]Saw SM, Tan D. Pterygium: prevalence, demography and risk factors. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 1999;6:219-228.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10487976?tool=bestpractice.com[6]Mackenzie FD, Hirst LW, Battistutta D, et al. Risk analysis in the development of pterygia. Ophthalmology. 1992;99:1056-1061.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1495784?tool=bestpractice.com其他可能的危险因素包括遗传和基因因素、免疫机制以及病毒感染。[3]Saw SM, Tan D. Pterygium: prevalence, demography and risk factors. Ophthalmic Epidemiol. 1999;6:219-228.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10487976?tool=bestpractice.com[7]Di Girolamo N, Chui J, Coroneo MT, et al. Pathogenesis of pterygia: role of cytokines, growth factors, and matrix metalloproteinases. Prog Retin Eye Res. 2004;23:195-228.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15094131?tool=bestpractice.com[8]Tong L, Chew J, Yang H, et al. Distinct gene subsets in pterygia formation and recurrence: dissecting complex biological phenomenon using genome wide expression data. BMC Med Genomics. 2009;2:14.http://www.biomedcentral.com/1755-8794/2/14http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19272163?tool=bestpractice.com[9]*Duplicate*Otlu B, Emre S, Turkcuoglu P, et al. Investigation of human papillomavirus and Epstein-Barr virus DNAs in pterygium tissue. Eur J Ophthalmol. 2009;19:175-179.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19253231?tool=bestpractice.com[10]Anguria P, Kitinya J, Ntuli S, et al. The role of heredity in pterygium development. Int J Ophthalmol. 2014;7:563-573.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24967209?tool=bestpractice.com