EULAR points to consider for minimal reporting requirements in synovial tissue research in rheumatology.

BACKGROUND

Synovial tissue research has become widely developed in several rheumatology centres, however, large discrepancies exist in the way synovial tissue is handled and, more specifically, how data pertaining to biopsy procedure, quality check and experimental results are reported in the literature. This heterogeneity hampers the progress of research in this rapidly expanding field. In that context, under the umbrella of European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology, we aimed at proposing points to consider (PtC) for minimal reporting requirements in synovial tissue research.

METHODS

Twenty-five members from 10 countries across Europe and USA met virtually to define the key areas needing evaluation and formulating the research questions to inform a systematic literature review (SLR). The results were presented during a second virtual meeting where PtC were formulated and agreed.

RESULTS

Study design, biopsy procedures, tissue handling, tissue quality control and tissue outcomes (imaging, DNA/RNA analysis and disaggregation) were identified as important aspects for the quality of synovial tissue research. The SLR interrogated four databases, retrieved 7654 abstracts and included 26 manuscripts. Three OPs and nine PtC were formulated covering the following areas: description of biopsy procedure, overarching clinical design, patient characteristics, tissue handling and processing, quality control, histopathology, transcriptomic analyses and single-cell technologies.

CONCLUSIONS

These PtC provide guidance on how research involving synovial tissue should be reported to ensure a better evaluation of results by readers, reviewers and the broader scientific community. We anticipate that these PtC will enable the field to progress in a robust and transparent manner over the coming years.

Informations de copyright

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Competing interests: AN has received consulting and/or speaker’s fees from UCB, CHUGAI, BMS all unrelated to this manuscript. FC has received consulting and/or speaker’s fees from Lilly, Novartis and UCB, all unrelated to this manuscript. M-AD'A has received consulting and/or speaker’s fees from Lilly, Novartis, AbbVie, BMS, Pfizer, Galapagos, and UCB, all unrelated to this manuscript. AF has received consulting and/or speaker’s fees from Janssen, GSK, Abbvie, Galapagos and receives research funding from Janssen, GSK, Mestag, Roche and Celsius, all unrelated to this manuscript. EN has received consulting and/or speaker’s fees from Roche, BMS, UCB, Lilly Celgene GmbH, all unrelated to this manuscript. SA has received research funding by Abbvie, Pfizer, BMS and GSK and has received consulting and/or speaker’s fees from Abbvie, Pfizer, BMS, Galapagos, Novartis, Janssen and Lilly all unrelated to this manuscript. JEF has received research funding and/or speaker’s fees from Abbvie, Ache, Biogen, Janssen, Lilly, MSD, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, all unrelated to this manuscript. SWT received research funding and/or speaker’s fees from AbbVie, Arthrogen/MeiraGTx, AstraZeneca, BMS, Celgene, Galapagos, GSK, MSD, Pfizer, Roche, Sanofi-Genzyme, all unrelated to this manuscript. VCR has received research funding and non-financial support from Merck Sharp and Dohme; personal fees and non-financial support from Pfizer and Janssen; non-financial support from Lilly and Roche, outside the submitted work. MM Supported by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre at the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Birmingham. The author(s) views unrelated to the NIHR or the department of Health and Social Care.