Acetate: An Alcohol Metabolite as a Growth Promoter of Pathological Crystallization of Gout

In many instances, it has been reported that growth inhibitors containing carboxyl groups can potentially interact with metal cations on a crystal surface to suppress the growth of crystallization. There are fewer reports about modifiers which operate as growth promoters, whereby modifier–crystal interactions accelerate the growth of crystallization. Here, we present that the acetate (ACE), as an alcohol metabolite, is able to obviously promote the growth of the pathological crystallization of gout not only under model physiological conditions but also in the Na+, K+, Ca2+, and hyaluronate– ion-containing solutions. This approach could help our understanding of the association between alcohol consumption and increased risk of recurrent gout attacks, since the “triggers”, that is, crystallization factors immediately before gout attacks, still remain speculative. Finally, a possible explanation for the effect of ACE on monosodium urate monohydrate (MSUM) growth is proposed on the basis of quantum chemical calculations (QCC).