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©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
In vitro laboratory infection research in orthopaedics: Why, when, and how
Konstantinos Tsikopoulos, Lorenzo Drago, Gabriele Meroni, Dimitrios Kitridis, Byron Chalidis, Fotios Papageorgiou, Paraskevi Papaioannidou
Konstantinos Tsikopoulos, 1st Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece
Lorenzo Drago, Department of Biomedical Sciences for Health, School of Medicine, University of Milan, Milan 20133, Italy
Gabriele Meroni, Department of Biomedical, Surgical and Dental Sciences, University of Milan, Milan 20133, Italy
Dimitrios Kitridis, Byron Chalidis, 1st Department of Orthopaedic, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 57010, Greece
Fotios Papageorgiou, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, 404 General Army Hospital, Larisa 41222, Greece
Paraskevi Papaioannidou, 1st Department of Pharmacology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece
Author contributions: Tsikopoulos K conceptualized and drafted the paper; Meroni G contributed to the organization and writing of this article; Kitridis D, Chalidis B, and Papageorgiou F contributed to the orthopaedic part of this manuscript; Drago L and Papaioannidou P supervised this project.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See:
https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Corresponding author: Konstantinos Tsikopoulos, PhD, Postdoc, Senior Researcher, 1st Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Panepistimioupoli, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece. kostastsikop@gmail.com
Received: April 22, 2023
Peer-review started: April 22, 2023
First decision: May 25, 2023
Revised: June 7, 2023
Accepted: July 11, 2023
Article in press: July 11, 2023
Published online: August 18, 2023
The musculoskeletal system involves multiple tissues which are constantly exposed to being exposed to various biological and mechanical stimuli. As such, isolating and studying a particular system from a complex human clinical environment is not always a realistic expectation. On top of that, recruitment limitations, in addition to the nature of orthopaedic interventions and their associated cost, sometimes preclude consideration of human trials to answer a clinical question. Therefore, in this mini review, we sought to rationalize the rapid evolution of biomedical research at a basic scientific level and explain why the perception of orthopaedic conditions has fundamentally changed over the last decades. In more detail, we highlight that the number of orthopaedic in vitro publications has soared since 1990. Last but not least, we elaborated on the minimum requirements for conducting a scientifically sound infection-related laboratory experiment to offer valuable information to clinical practitioners. We also explained the rationale behind implementing molecular biology techniques, ex vivo experiments, and artificial intelligence in this type of laboratory research.
Core Tip: This paper highlights some major orthopaedic research advances at a basic science level. On top of that, it is highlighted that the perception of orthopaedic conditions has fundamentally changed recently, reflecting on clinical practice. We also described the basic aspects of a successful in vitro infection laboratory experiment and expanded on recent evidence relating to molecular biology, ex vivo investigations, and artificial intelligence in orthopaedics.
