NLRP3 and chronic kidney disease: Since the NLRP3 inflammasome once activated causes the proteolytic cleavage of caspase-1 and the subsequent maturation of pro-inflammatory cytokines [36], we decided to measure the protein level of activated (cleaved) caspase-1 and mature IL1β and IL-18 in 10 CKD-HD patients and 10 NORM from the training-group.