Growth Kinetics Analysis and Morphological Characterization by Electron Microscopy of Anhydrous Uric Acid Crystals

Abstract

In vitro synthesis of uric acid crystals provides an important source to study the process of crystal formation and to understand how the deposition of these crystals induces disease; nevertheless, the described methodologies for the synthesis of uric acid crystals are time‐consuming, depend on the use of high volumes, and the time scale precludes the kinetics study of the crystal growth. In the present work, it is described a fast method for the synthesis of anhydrous uric acid (AUA) crystals using microvolumes, and the crystal growth kinetics is characterized by light field microscopy using nonlinear adjustment. In addition, a crystal morphological characterization by scanning electron microscopy and X‐ray diffraction is made, disclosing that the AUA crystals are arranged in stacked layer sheets with an orthorhombic‐like shape. These results help to understand the phenomenon of crystallization of uric acid, which is a trigger event on the development of uric acid nephrolithiasis.