IL18 and gout: Colchicine, an orally administered plant alkaloid used to treat gout and pericarditis, is a potent anti-inflammatory agent mainly acting by inhibiting tubulin assembly and suppressing microtubule formation (key components of the cellular cytoskeleton), but also interfering with NLRP3 (NACHT, LRR and PYD domains-containing protein 3)-inflammasome formation and thereby reducing the release of activated pro-inflammatory IL-1β and interleukin-18 (IL-18) (9).