The PRIZE (programme of vascular evaluation under uric acid control by xanthine oxidase (XO) inhibitor, febuxostat: multicentre, randomised controlled) study investigated whether SU-lowering therapy with febuxostat, a non-purine selective inhibitor of XO, can slow the progression of carotid atherosclerosis assessed as intima–media thickness (IMT) in patients with asymptomatic hyperuricaemia.27 In that study, 24 months of febuxostat treatment, compared with non-pharmacological treatments for hyperuricaemia, did not affect changes in carotid IMT. This evidence concerns the gene XDH and carotid atherosclerosis.