The first gout attack in a hyperuricaemic patient may be regarded as a nucleation event which is caused by monosodium urate monohydrate (MSUM) deposition in the synovial fluid. The effect of Tailor-Made Inhibition (TMI) may be effective as drugs for the prevention of aberrant nucleation and crystallization. Therefore, the understanding of the underlying mechanisms in inhibiting the MSUM nucleation by TMI has proven to be of great significance. Yet most of the published studies about nucleation inhibition have tended to focus on simpler molecular models with a hydrogen-bonded acceptor and donor, which may be not suitable for the uric acid molecule with multiple hydrogen-bonded acceptors and donors under physiological conditions. Herein, the mechanisms of nucleation inhibition of MSUM were explored in a simulated biological environment (0.15 M Na+ and pH 7.40) in the presence and absence of TMI. And the evidence of nucleation inhibition by TMI in solution and the amorphous form of MSUM was investigated by HNMR, IR, Raman, PXRD, Dynamic light scattering (DLS), induction time measurements, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Results showed that the inhibition comes from a combination of kinetic and thermodynamic effects, with an impact of kinetics as the TMI inhibition effects far exceeded what could be accounted for by changes in usual factors of classical nucleation theory. The data demonstrated that the complex between urate and TMI disturbed the formation of two-dimensional sheets of sodion and purine rings parallel to the (011) plane and further impeded the formation of a three-dimensional structure with aromatic stacking interactions in solution. To our knowledge, the nucleation inhibition of TMI is achieved by suppressing interplanar stacking, which is a mechanism proposed for the first time.
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