Given the clear association of IL-1β with the induction of fever and recent studies demonstrating that the NLRP3 inflammasome senses inorganic materials, such as monosodium urate (MSU, a gout-associated uric-acid crystals), silica, asbestos and aluminum hydroxide by producing IL-1β [6], we tested whether Hz can activate the NLRP3 inflammasome. This evidence concerns the gene IL1B and gout.