Artery Research

Volume 25, Issue 1-2, June 2019, Pages 3 - 10

Quality of Reporting in Human Aortic Tissue Research – A Systematic Review

Authors
Ya-Hua Chim1, Eva Caamaño-Gutiérrez2, 3, Rashmi Birla4, Jillian Madine3, 5, Mark Field4, 5, Riaz Akhtar1, 5, Hannah Angharad Davies3, 5, *
1Department of Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3GH, UK
2Computational Biology Facility, Technology Directorate, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
3Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
4Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, Liverpool, UK
5Liverpool Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
*Corresponding author. Email: h.davies1@liverpool.ac.uk
Corresponding Author
Hannah Angharad Davies
Received 19 October 2019, Accepted 1 November 2019, Available Online 18 November 2019.
DOI
10.2991/artres.k.191106.003How to use a DOI?
Keywords
aortic tissue; reproducibility; reporting
Abstract

Ex vivo human tissue is a valuable research resource. However, if vital methodological information such as anatomical location, tissue processing procedures, or donor characteristics are not reported in scientific literature to a high standard, studies utilising ex vivo human tissue can be difficult to replicate. Furthermore, data analysis and interpretation based on these studies can be challenging. In this systematic review, we focus on the reported use of human aortic tissue in research. The human aorta is a complex tissue, with embryological, biochemical and biomechanical variations along its length, which alter with age, and differ between genders and ethnicities. The aorta therefore serves as an excellent case study for examining the importance of high quality and robust reporting of methodology when utilising human tissue samples, for reliable interpretation and reproducibility. In this systematic review, we sought to critically analyse scientific papers published between 1980 and 2017 which utilised human aortic tissue to determine whether the methodological information provided would be sufficient for replication, comparison with other studies and interpretation. Eight databases (Springerlink, ScienceDirect, PMC, PLoS, JSTOR, Pubmed, Web of Science, Scopus) were mined for articles that contained the search term ‘human aortic tissue’ from January 1980 to August 2017. Following review, 143 full-text articles were selected, data extracted, tabulated and analysed. The review highlighted several areas where reporting of human aortic tissue use was insufficient for replication and thorough data interpretation. The use of control tissue was often poorly explained and in many cases, omitted completely. Sample size was largely difficult to calculate and 30% of studies did not provide this information. Age/gender information was absent in 30% of studies. Tissue storage and handling information was present in 78%, and 75% of studies gave information about statistical analyses but few gave enough information for replication. Overall the quality of reporting in many studies was deemed to be of a low standard for replication and reliable interpretation of the reported findings. Here we propose five simple recommendations for the reporting of human tissue with the primary aim of improving reproducibility and transparency in the sector, avoiding bias and maximising output.

Copyright
© 2019 Association for Research into Arterial Structure and Physiology. Publishing services by Atlantis Press International B.V.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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Journal
Artery Research
Volume-Issue
25 - 1-2
Pages
3 - 10
Publication Date
2019/11/18
ISSN (Online)
1876-4401
ISSN (Print)
1872-9312
DOI
10.2991/artres.k.191106.003How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2019 Association for Research into Arterial Structure and Physiology. Publishing services by Atlantis Press International B.V.
Open Access
This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Cite this article

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Ya-Hua Chim
AU  - Eva Caamaño-Gutiérrez
AU  - Rashmi Birla
AU  - Jillian Madine
AU  - Mark Field
AU  - Riaz Akhtar
AU  - Hannah Angharad Davies
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/11/18
TI  - Quality of Reporting in Human Aortic Tissue Research – A Systematic Review
JO  - Artery Research
SP  - 3
EP  - 10
VL  - 25
IS  - 1-2
SN  - 1876-4401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/artres.k.191106.003
DO  - 10.2991/artres.k.191106.003
ID  - Chim2019
ER  -