School of Infection & Immunity

Arthritis Research Needs You Comic

Text only version

Meet Alice, a woman living with arthritis, who is joining the fight back against this debilitating disease.

This illustrated story will guide you through the process of volunteering a tissue sample and contributing to the future of arthritis medicine.

Alice: It all started a few years ago. I almost didn’t notice it at first. The aching joints when I woke up. The fatigue. The stiffness. The pain. I shrugged it off at first. But it got worse. It started impacting my life, work and hobbies.

Alice: The doctor examined me and did some tests...

Doctor: “I’m afraid to say, it’s Rheumatoid Arthritis.”

Alice: I’d heard of it. Of course I had. My auntie has it. Grandad had it too. It’s a condition caused by your body’s immune system turning against your body – seeing the cells in your joints as the enemy, and attacking them. This bitter war going on in your joints is what causes the pain, inflammation and stiffness that characterise Rheumatoid Arthritis. It was hard news to take. I’m still coming to terms with it now. But I’ve decided it’s time to help in the fight back against this debilitating disease. There is hope… and I’m going to be a part of it.

Alice: “Hey, how’s it going? Are you all in for the biopsy study too?”

Person 1: “Yes, we are. I’ve got Rheumatoid Arthritis. Stiff joints in my hands, mostly.”

Person 2: “Psoriatic Arthritis. Comes with this dry rash too, unfortunately!”

Person 3: “I’ve got Osteoarthritis. Wear and tear on the cartilage in my joints is causing a lot of pain.”

Person 4: “Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis for me. It’s been hard… I had to give up football and everything!”

Person 2: “As you can see, arthritis can affect anyone. There are treatments, but no cure.”

Person 1: “And the treatments we do have don’t work for everyone.”

Person 3: “That’s why I’ve come in to the clinic. Today I’ll be giving a tissue sample to help research into future treatments…”

Person 4: “…and maybe even finding a cure.”

Doctor: “Hi Alice! Are you ready to come in? How are you doing today?”

Alice: “A bit nervous, if I’m honest. All I can think about are big needles!”

Doctor: “I can understand your worries! But let me talk you through the procedure, and see if I can put your mind at ease. First, we scan one of your joints with an ultrasound machine. It’s the same thing we use to scan a baby developing in the womb. Perfect for seeing through skin and muscle to detect inflammation in the joint. Once we’ve found the inflammation, we numb the skin and joint cavity, to make sure you don’t feel anything. Don’t worry, if you do feel any discomfort we can add more anaesthetic or stop the procedure at any time.”

Doctor: “When the joint is numb, we use a biopsy needle to take some tiny samples from the inflamed tissue. The procedure only takes about twenty minutes from beginning to end. We might also inject an anti-inflammatory steroid into your joint to help reduce the pain and swelling caused by your arthritis. There we go. How was that for you?”

Alice: “Much better than I expected, thanks! So what happens with my sample now?”

Doctor: “Right from the start of its journey, your tissue samples are treated with the utmost care and respect. We put your samples in a nutrient liquid to nourish and protect them… Then we package it up and get it to our research team at the university…”

At the university…

Researcher: “Thank you! A piece of tissue from one of your joints, no bigger than a grain of rice. It might not seem like much, but to us, each sample is precious. If we have any hope of better understanding these diseases, and how to fight them, the answers are locked inside tissue samples like yours. We use a process called Spatial Transcriptomics. We cut thin slices from across the sample, and find out which genes are switched on or off in different areas.”

Alice: “Wow! Almost like you’re drawing a map of the joint… showing you where the disease is causing problems, and where it is less severe.”

Researcher: “Put together, everyone’s samples generate a huge amount of data. The job now is to make sense of that information… This is where true scientific teamwork comes in! We work with people with all sorts of different knowledge and specialisms. Data Scientists who take this data and use complex algorithms to find patterns in the noise. Biologists who examine how genetic and environmental factors contribute to how the disease appears, progresses, and responds to treatment. And Clinical Researchers who track the effectiveness of treatments and work with patients to find out more.”

Alice: “And through all this work, what are you discovering?”

Researcher: “Arthritis is a complex disease, and no single treatment will work for everyone. But there is hope…”

Researcher: “By gathering more samples, and using cutting-edge scientific techniques to examine them, we’re slowly building up our map of arthritic diseases and discovering pathways towards future treatments that could be tailored to different patients.

Doctor: “It’s thanks to people like you, who take the time to give us a tissue sample, that our research can continue.”

Alice: Some days are hard, but treatment is making things better. And with my tissue samples joining thousands of others… I can feel hope for the future, knowing that together, patients, clinicians and researchers are working hard… to ease the burden of living with arthritis.”

Get involved

Research into arthritis is only possible because of patients like Alice who have volunteered to take part in clinical research. If you’re interested in taking part yourself, ask your rheumatology consultant or nurse who can tell you about any projects that you can join.

If you have any feedback or would like to discuss anything related to this publication, please contact the Glasgow Arthritis Involvement Network (GAIN) Manager at gain@glasgow.ac.uk

Credits

‘Arthritis Research Needs You’ is written and illustrated by Edward Ross (www.edwardross.co.uk). Professor Carl Goodyear and Dr Aurelie Najm at the University of Glasgow provided scientific advice.

With thanks to all our Patient Research Partners and proofreaders for their help in making this booklet.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License. You are free to share and adapt this work for non-commercial purposes, but must credit the creators. See the license at: creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

First printed in 2025. Published by School of Infection and Immunity, Sir Graeme Davies Building, University of Glasgow, 120 University Place, Glasgow G12 8TA.