De-crystallization of Uric Acid Crystals in Synovial Fluid Using Gold Colloids and Microwave Heating

In this study, we demonstrated a unique application of our Metal-Assisted and Microwave-Accelerated Evaporative Crystallization (MA-MAEC) technique for the de-crystallization of uric acidcrystals, which causes gout in humans when monosodium urate crystals accumulate in the synovialfluid found in the joints of bones. Given the shortcomings of the existing treatments for gout, weinvestigated whether the MA-MAEC technique can offer an alternative solution to the treatmentof gout. Our technique is based on the use of metal nanoparticles (i.e., gold colloids) with lowmicrowave heating to accelerate the de-crystallization process. In this regard, we employed a twostepprocess; (i) crystallization of uric acid on glass slides, which act as a solid platform to mimic abone, (ii) de-crystallization of uric acid crystals on glass slides with the addition of gold colloids andlow power microwave heating, which act as “nano-bullets” when microwave heated in a solution. Weobserved that the size and number of the uric acid crystals were reduced by >60% within 10 minutesof low power microwave heating. In addition, the use of gold colloids without microwave heating (i.e.control experiment) did not result in the de-crystallization of the uric acid crystals, which proves theutility of our MA-MAEC technique in the de-crystallization of uric acid.