Blinding (masking) in non-clinical studies to improve reproducibity and translability (literary review)

Abstract

Background. Despite numerous measures it is still impossible to overcome translational barriers and increase the reproducibility of the results obtained. The most significant procedures that improve the reliability of in vivo studies are randomization and blinding (masking). Conducting randomization does not require significant resources. In contrast, blinding is a more labor-intensive process. Research Objective. To analyze the scientific literature on the use of blinding in preclinical studies to further elaborate an algorithm for this procedure in a particular testing center. Materials and methods. Publications were searched in PubMed and Google Scholar databases (until April 30, 2023). Results. A literature review of blinding in preclinical studies was conducted, methods and the stages of scientific work at which this procedure can be performed were reviewed. An algorithm for partial study blinding that does not require additional specialists has been proposed. It is shown that the application of blinding allows to increase the reliability of the obtained data. If full blinding cannot be performed, it is necessary to evaluate which stages of the preclinical study can be blinded. Appropriate procedures should be developed and implemented to perform blinding in the preclinical center. Conclusions. The proposed blinding algorithm can significantly reduce the influence of the specialist(s) on the experiment or interpretation of the data obtained.