The Study
Effect of Monosodium Urate Crystal Deposition on Atherosclerotic Carotid Plaques
This study looked at people who already had surgery on their neck arteries and found that some had tiny uric acid crystals in the plaque. It saw that those with crystals also had more inflammation, but it didn’t watch them over time to see if the crystals caused the inflammation or if the inflammation caused the crystals. So it only shows a possible connection, not which one comes first.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
Scientists looked at artery pieces removed from patients' necks and found tiny uric acid crystals in some plaques. These crystals were mostly in areas where plaques are most likely to burst.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 543 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — more inflammation and bleeding in plaques means higher stroke risk, so uric acid crystals might make plaques more unstable and dangerous.
- 2Crystals were found in 22 of 89 patients (25%).
- 3Those with crystals had 3x more inflammation cells and blood vessels in the plaque, and 82% had bleeding inside the plaque vs.
- 460% without crystals.
- 5Their blood uric acid was higher (8.6 vs.
- 66.3 mg/dL).
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Journal of Clinical Medicine
Year
2025
Authors
D. Kashiwazaki, Kunitaka Maruyama, Saori Hamada, S. Yamamoto, E. Hori, N. Akioka, K. Noguchi, Satoshi Kuroda
Related Content
Claims (6)
When uric acid levels in the blood exceed 0.36 mmol/L, crystals form in joint tissues.
In patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy, carotid plaques containing intraplaque hemorrhage are more likely to contain monosodium urate crystals than plaques without hemorrhage.
Dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) does not reliably detect monosodium urate crystals in carotid plaques compared to tissue analysis under a microscope, because its results disagree significantly with the gold standard method.
In patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy, the presence of monosodium urate crystals in carotid artery plaques is linked to higher counts of CD68-positive macrophages and CD31-positive microvessels in plaque shoulder regions.
In patients undergoing carotid endarterectomy, monosodium urate crystals are found primarily in the shoulder region of carotid plaques, and these patients have higher blood uric acid levels compared to those without such crystals.
People with monosodium urate crystals in their carotid artery plaques have higher levels of C-reactive protein in their blood than those without these crystals.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.