Uric Acid Crystal Pictures

Each uric acid crystal is microscopic.

You never get to see them, let alone watch them get beaten.

Now you can.

EULAR (EUropean League Against Rheumatism) has produced 6 still images of a uric acid crystal meeting a white blood cell.

I used 4 of these pictures in the image showing on the right. See a full size version of my uric acid crystal graphic below

You can see more images below, but first let me explain some very important points revealed by these pictures.

No direct nerve effect

Trapping a single crystal has no noticeable effect. These microscopic crystals are invariably described needle-like. You can see from the pictures that this is true. However, needle-like implies a stabbing pain, which is usually a direct attack on nerves. Uric acid crystals are too small to affect nerves.

Pain (acute gout) is only caused when many are trapped together. When many white blood cell attack foreign particles an inflammatory reaction occurs. This Reaction causes swelling that causes pain, as part of my U-D-R-P process.

Intercritical Gout

Crystals can be trapped between acute gout attacks. If only a few, there will be no side effects, or only a little tingling / numbness.

Deposits can build up slowly over time without you noticing. Joint damage and pain (Chronic / Tophaceous Gout) can occur if this is left unchecked. See the Uric Acid Deposits part of my U-D-R-P process for more information.

Down but not out

Trapping does not “kill” crystals. If they start to dissolve the white blood cell shield will fall away, revealing the crystal to the immune system for another attack. This is why pain relief must always be considered alongside long term gout prevention.

Uric Acid Crystal

Uric Acid Crystal Images From EULAR

The images used in my sequence were taken from a set of six images showing the progress of white blood cells as they engulf uric acid crystals.

Whilst searching for those uric acid crystal pictures, I found a relevant report showing the process in more details[1]. The pictures contained in the report are not quite as clear, but the explanation of the process is very detailed, though somewhat jargon filled. I’ll paraphrase the conclusion as:

The sequence of events that may start the inflammatory reaction in acute gout has been investigated with specific reference to engulfing of urate crystals by large white blood cells and the results have shown that:

White blood cells avidly ingest small uric acid crystals.

This causes the rapid loss of granules and disintegration of the white blood cells.

Fresh white blood cells ingest the debris and crystals liberated by the dead cells. And in their turn loose granules and die. Thus, possibly establishing a vicious circle in the system.

Leave uric acid crystal pictures in the Understanding Uric Acid Section.

Uric Acid Crystal Pictures Comments

GoutPal visitor responses and associated research include:

What do Uric Acid Crystals look like?

Jason wrote, “I can see you are fascinated by these microscopic uric acid crystal pictures. But I have to rely on my naked eye. So do you have any pictures to show what uric acid crystals look like?”

In response, I’ve prepared this picture of uric acid crystals. With extra information if you click it.