JerMa88/BMC_Gastroenterology_Peer_Reviews huggingface dataset:
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03229-4 (2024)

Title: Waistline to thigh circumference ratio as a predictor of MAFLD: A health care worker
study with 2-year follow-up
Version: 0 Date: 06 Nov 2023
Reviewer:  Giuseppe Guido Maria Scarlata
Reviewer's report:
The manuscript offers a detailed analysis of the waist-to-thigh ratio as a predictor of NAFLD.
Patients were properly stratified and the results are robust. Moreover, according to the authors,
this is the novelty of the study. However, the paper is lacking in content in the other sections.
I  have some suggestions for improving the manuscript:
Introduction:
1. Clinical features of NAFLD patients should be highlighted. I suggest citing these recent
papers:
- https://doi.org/10.3390/medicina59111935
- 10.3389/fendo.2023.1062341
- 10.1159/000530845
2. It should be explained how NAFLD is diagnosed. The authors used ultrasound, so the pros
and cons of this method should be highlighted.
3. "However, there are few reports on the relationship between waist-to-thigh ratio and NAFLD
in healthcare workers." What are they? They should be cited and addressed later in the
discussion.
Materials and methods:
1. The principle of the Cobas c 501 autoanalyzer method, Roche Diagnostics, Germany, should
be specified.
Results:
1. A workflow should be included to better explain how the 2790 patients were enrolled.
2. The caption of the tables should probably be moved above them.
3. A legend for the tables is needed to better explain the terms used.
Discussions and conclusions:
1. The few works on the topic, highlighted in the introduction, should be discussed in depth.
2. Is the incidence of NAFLD calculated by you in agreement or disagreement with the literature?
3. The conclusions should be expanded.
The manuscript should be proofread for english language and typos.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03229-4 (2024)

Title: Waistline to thigh circumference ratio as a predictor of MAFLD: A health care worker
study with 2-year follow-up
Version: 0 Date: 07 Jan 2024
Reviewer's report:
This is an interesting prospective study on a large cohort of health professionals evaluating the
first incidence of MASLD related to WTTR measurement.
Some issues should be discussed—first, the term NAFLD needs to be replaced by MASLD
based on the newly adopted nomenclature.
Second, did other parameters change as well during follow-up? E.g., glycated hemoglobin
and neck circumference ( that could also be evaluated). How was the incidence of MASLD
estimated? By ultrasound? In addition to the US, the authors mention that all individuals were
submitted to BIA by Inbody 770. However, there is no mention concerning the results.
Please clarify. Would health professionals have any characteristics that might differ from the
general population regarding sedentaryism and diet patterns? Was this investigated in baseline
and follow-up?
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03221-y (2024)

Title: Endoscopic manifestation of intestinal transplant-associated microangiopathy after stem
cell transplantation
Version: 0 Date: 18 Jan 2024
Reviewer's report:
This manuscript explored the endoscopic characteristics of patients diagnosed with iTAM.
Among 14 iTAM patients, endoscopic manifestations included reddish mucosa (n = 14),
erosions (n = 13), ulcers (n = 9), mucosal edema (n = 9), granular mucosa (n = 9), and villous
atrophy (n = 4). Erosions and/or ulcers were primarily observed in the colon (10/14, 71.4%),
followed by the ileum (9/13, 69.2%), stomach (4/10, 40.0%), cecum (5/14, 35.7%), duodenum
(3/10, 30.0%), rectum (4/14, 28.6%), and esophagus (1/10, 10.0%). The results were quite
interesting. However, they need to answer the following questions.
1. They identified 14 patients (9 men and 5 women) diagnosed with iTAM between May 2015
and April 2023. If they know how often this occurs, please let us know.
2. It is difficult to understand the specific endoscopic features of iTAMs compared with
cytomegalovirus or GVHD. Can we diagnose the iTAM by the endoscopic observation?
3. They determined serological markers for diagnosing iTAM. What are the specific markers
or useful tools for the diagnosis.
4. Various endoscopic findings are shown, but is it possible to classify the severity? Also, is it
possible to show the relationship between its severity, blood markers, and even prognosis?
5. Please provide how to diagnose CMV infection.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03221-y (2024)

Title: Endoscopic manifestation of intestinal transplant-associated microangiopathy after stem
cell transplantation
Version: 2 Date: 31 Mar 2024
Reviewer's report:
PEER REVIEWER ASSESSMENTS:
OBJECTIVE - Full research articles: is there a clear objective that addresses one or several
testable research questions? (Brief or other article types: is there a clear objective?)
Yes - there is a clear objective
DESIGN - Is the current approach (including controls and analysis protocols) appropriate for
the objective?
Yes - the approach is appropriate
EXECUTION - Are the experiments and analyses performed with sufficient technical rigor to
allow confidence in the results?
Yes - experiments and analyses were performed appropriately
STATISTICS - Is the use of statistics in the manuscript appropriate?
Yes - appropriate statistical analyses have been used in the study
INTERPRETATION - Is the current interpretation/discussion of the results reasonable and not
overstated?
Yes - the author's interpretation is reasonable
OVERALL MANUSCRIPT POTENTIAL - Has the author addressed your concerns sufficiently
for you to now recommend the work as a technically sound contribution? If not, can further
revisions be made to make the work technically sound?
Yes - current version is technically sound
PEER REVIEWER COMMENTS:
GENERAL COMMENTS: HAVE THE AUTHORS RESPONDED ADEQUATELY TO
EACH OF THE QUESTIONS YOU RAISED IN YOUR COMMENTS
Yes I really think. Ow that the manuscript does address a more specific ability to diagnose iTAM
HAVE THEY MADE THE APPROPRIATE CHANGES IN THE MANUSCRIPT
YES!
WHAT IS YOUR OVERALL IMPRESSION OF THE REVISED MANUSCRIPT
Although this has been a long process now the criteria for the diagnosis of iTAM makes sense
and adds important objective findings to make an accurate diagnosis of iTAM and may even
question prior diagnoses of GVHD and CMV infection. The addition of pathological histologic
photos of GVHD and CMV infection really help the learner to differentiate rate these entities
which is absolutely critical to provide targeted therapy for each separate condition.
ADDITIONAL REQUESTS/SUGGESTIONS:
ARE THERE ANY ADDITIONAL REVISIONS THE AUTHORS SHOULD MAKE
As always, I have re-read the entire manuscript
1. Line 39 to really formalize this manuscript because you do not mention the pathological
findings on biopsy in this abstract, why not add the phrase ”based on pathognomonic
pathological changes of iTAM.” at the end of the sentence on line 39. This should be able to be
done by the editor. You nicely outline the pathological findings in the text as you have done on
lines 108-115!  well done! Now  no one can question you on the criteria you used to diagnose
iTAM
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03219-6 (2024)

Title: Prognostic analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma based on Cuproptosis -associated
lncRNAs
Version: 4 Date: 15 Feb 2024
Reviewer's report:
The authors has  nicely addressed all suggested revisions. No additional specific modifications
are required. It is recommended to proceed with publication, and the final decision is left to the
discretion of the Academic Editor.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03219-6 (2024)

Title: Prognostic analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma based on Cuproptosis -associated
lncRNAs
Version: 4 Date: 26 Feb 2024
Reviewer's report:
1.The first appearance of abbreviations refers to using the full name first and then abbreviating
it in the main text
2.The subsequent inquiry involves specifying the name of the R package utilized in the analysis
methodology. It is recommended to incorporate the necessary R packages for each analytical
step within the method section, without necessitating a detailed enumeration.
3.The issue addresses the partitioning of the TCGA database into training and validation subsets,
with a request to include the respective sample sizes of these sets in the results section.
4.The fourth inquiry pertains to the absence of a reference to the website containing the drug
sensitivity data. Kindly provide this information.
5.Additionally, the fifth concern arises from the observation that while the author's graphical
presentation is commendable, the written content appears deficient, prompting skepticism
regarding potential third-party assistance. Should such assistance have been utilized, it is
recommended to disclose this in the acknowledgments section.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03219-6 (2024)

Title: Prognostic analysis of hepatocellular carcinoma based on Cuproptosis -associated
lncRNAs
Version: 5 Date: 11 Mar 2024
Reviewer's report:
After undergoing two rounds of revisions, the quality of the article has shown significant
improvement. Prior to publication, it is recommended to address the issue of abbreviations
appearing in the text by first spelling out the full name followed by the abbreviation in
parentheses. For example, the phrase "HCC constitutes around 90% of all primary liver cancer
instances and ranks as the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, with an
annual incidence of 850,000 new cases." should be revised to "Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)
constitutes.......". Subsequently, in the main text, it is advised to consistently use the abbreviation
HCC instead of the full term Hepatocellular carcinoma.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03230-x (2024)

Title: Fructose malabsorption and fructan malabsorption are associated in patients with irritable
bowel syndrome
Version: 2 Date: 05 Oct 2023
Reviewer:  Danilo Consalvo
Reviewer's report:
The topic is very interesting and little covered in literature but: The introduction to the article
begins with a main topic other than the title, the description of IBS and the fodmap diet must
be part of the discussion. The first topic must be the news regarding fructose malabsorption and
fructan intolerancee and second topic must be the methods for diagnosing them, table 1 on the
literature review is only cited and not commented on. Just one outcome is reductive, there should
be at least two. The result on the correlation between HBTs positivity for fructose and fructan
would make more sense if compared also on non-IBS patients.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03230-x (2024)

Title: Fructose malabsorption and fructan malabsorption are associated in patients with irritable
bowel syndrome
Version: 4 Date: 29 Mar 2024
Reviewer:  Danilo Consalvo
Reviewer's report:
the topic is really interesting!
I would suggest an introduction more in line with the title: it should start from the main pathology
IBS and then move on to the description of FODMAPs and finally fructose and fructan and their
intolerance.
The exclusion of SIBO should be better commented on in the methods, as this reduces the
percentage of patients suffering from IBS. The overlap between IBS and SIBO is known.
Otherwise it can be added in the title that it is IBS with the exclusion of patients suffering from
SIBO.
Figure 2 is confusing, it should be simplified by illustrating two pie charts, one of which concerns
positive fructan tests and one with negative fructan tests.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03233-8 (2024)

Title: Clinicopathologic and endoscopic characteristics of ten patients with gastric
hamartomatous inverted polyp: a single center case series
Version: 1 Date: 21 Jan 2024
Reviewer's report:
This study investigated the clinicopathological and endoscopic features of GHIP. Its frequency is
low, it is important to identify the clinical and endoscopic features of GHIP. However, I request
that the following points be reconsidered and revised as a result of the peer review.
Major
1. Previously, a primary factor in GHIP was considered to be recurrent and persistent mucosal
damage caused by chronic gastritis associated with H. pylori infection. It is important to
demonstrate clinically that H. pylori infection is associated with GHIP. The authors describe
that H. pylori infection of the gastric mucosa was confirmed in four cases (4/10, 40%) and six
patients (60%) had H. pylori-associated gastritis or atrophic gastritis with intestinal metaplasia.
Please clearly state whether the case is currently infected, previously infected (post-eradication
or spontaneous eradication), or uninfected with H. pylori.
2. Please indicate the gastric atrophy degree (e.g. Kimura and Takemoto's endoscopic-atrophic
border scale).
Kimura K, Takemoto T. An endoscopic recognition of the atrophic border and its significance
in chronic gastritis. Endoscopy. 1969;3:87-97.
Sakaki N, Arakawa T, Katou H, et al. Relationship between progression of gastric mucosal
atrophy and Helicobacter pylori infection: retrospective long-term endoscopic follow-up study.
J Gastroenterol. 1997;32:19-23.
Minor
1. Do endoscopic findings differ between patients with and without surrounding H. pylori
infection?
2. As the authors said in the discussion section, endoscopic diagnosis of a GIP and neoplastic
potential within a GIP may be difficult, and biopsy often faces incomplete pathological
sampling of the remaining masses, therefore, complete resection may be required for subsequent
pathological examination. I agree with this. However, it is important to consider the differential
diseases of GHIP. Therefore, I suggest listing the differential diseases of lesions with endoscopic
findings of GHIP-like morphology and indicating the key points of differentiation in the
discussion section.
3. There is no figure in this study. If possible, I recommend adding endoscopic images, EUS,
and histopathological images of GHIP.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03233-8 (2024)

Title: Clinicopathologic and endoscopic characteristics of ten patients with gastric
hamartomatous inverted polyp: a single center case series
Version: 1 Date: 30 Jan 2024
Reviewer's report:
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review your valuable paper.
It was very interesting manuscript that the clinicopathological summary of 10 cases at your
institution and the previously reported 45 cases of gastric hamartomatous inverted polyp.
Please allow me to confirm the following points about this paper.
# Is the evaluation of H. pylori infection status performed only by urea breath test?
# I think it would be better to include the company of the urea breath test and the definition of
a positive result in the Material and methods section.
# I think it is necessary to mention the history of proton pump inhibitors in the patient background
because it affects the urea breath test.
# How was atrophic gastritis determined?
# Is the pathological evaluation only HE staining? Is immunostaining performed? This point
should be clearly stated.
# Please correction of the sentence on page 6
~ except for one patient(1, 1.8%) who had 2 GHIPs.
# ~except for one patient(1/55, 1.8%) who had 2 GHIPs.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03233-8 (2024)

Title: Clinicopathologic and endoscopic characteristics of ten patients with gastric
hamartomatous inverted polyp: a single center case series
Version: 3 Date: 08 Mar 2024
Reviewer's report:
I appreciate for giving me the opportunity reviewing this interesting manuscript.
The revised manuscript has been very well.
Please respond to the following remark.
Minor#
Could you change the endoscopic image in Figure 2 to a clearer image?
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03233-8 (2024)

Title: Clinicopathologic and endoscopic characteristics of ten patients with gastric
hamartomatous inverted polyp: a single center case series
Version: 3 Date: 09 Mar 2024
Reviewer's report:
The authors have revised a manuscript entitled " Clinicopathologic and endoscopic
characteristics of ten patients with gastric hamartomatous inverted polyp: a single center
case series". The point-by-point responses to the reviewers' comments were mostly accepted.
However, there is some concern to be addressed for publication.
1. In table 2, two statistical results are presented. Only the result of P-value is sufficient.
2. There is no figure legend in Figure 4b (narrow-band imaging).
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03220-z (2024)

Title: Correlation analysis of MAFLD combined with central obesity and the incidence of
colorectal adenoma
Version: 1 Date: 19 Jul 2023
Reviewer's report:
Interesting paper, here are the comments of this reviewer  :
Title- make the title more "open", it is not appropriate to put the result of the study in the title .
Introduction- p 3 line 87 :  unclear sentence.
Patients and Methods - p 4 line 111 : this is a case.control study with incident cases and with
the measurement of exposure at the same time as the outcome measurement; p 4 line 115 : If
possible list the reasons for colonoscopy.
Results - P 7 line 194 : please describe the patients who did not enter the study ; p 8 table 1 :
please, indicate at the foot of the page the statistical tests used for the P values ;  p 10 table 3 :
the composition of the multivariable model is unclear ;  p 12 lines 264-5 : not clear ; p 13  tab
5:  multivariable model unclear  ; p 15 tab 6 : odds ratios are missing.
Discussion - The study has the problem that exposure and outcome measures are contemporary,
with uncertain direction of causality. p 16 line 314 : there are also flat adenomas ; p 20 line
419 : that is a problem of external validity ;  p 20 line 420 : absent knowledge of mechanisms
of associations are not a problem in epidemiology ;  p 20 line 422 : by introducing external
variables such as diet into models, biological variables become intermediate variables and create
problems in causal models.
Summary - p 20 lines 428-32  :  unclear sentence.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03220-z (2024)

Title: Correlation analysis of MAFLD combined with central obesity and the incidence of
colorectal adenoma
Version: 1 Date: 30 Sep 2023
Reviewer's report:
-More backgrounds and interpretations are required in the introduction and discussion,
especially the main and novel findings from this study.
-The manuscript requires significant editorial assistance, focusing on both grammars as well the
overall structure of the manuscript such as the ordering of the paragraphs, paragraph structure
and sentence structure.
-please pay attention to the format of the English text.
-what are the novelty, limitations, and perspectives of this work? the discussion should include
these.
-please merely don't heap up the data, more comparison and interpretation.
-could the authors provide more solid data to strengthen the conclusion of this work?
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03220-z (2024)

Title: Correlation analysis of MAFLD combined with central obesity and the incidence of
colorectal adenoma
Version: 1 Date: 11 Oct 2023
Reviewer's report:
This study was to analyze the risk factors associated with colorectal adenoma, and to investigate
the association between metabolism-related fatty liver disease (MAFLD) with obesity and
colorectal adenoma and high-risk adenoma. The results showed MAFLD and central obesity
were independently associated with colorectal adenoma development. MAFLD patients with
central obesity had a higher risk of high-risk colorectal adenoma. However, there are some
problems to be involved. Firstly, the language needs further modification; Secondly, the
explanation of Diagnosis of MAFLD is not detailed enough; Thirdly. The content in the tables
should be explained in detail, et.al.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03220-z (2024)

Title: Correlation analysis of MAFLD combined with central obesity and the incidence of
colorectal adenoma
Version: 3 Date: 30 Oct 2023
Reviewer's report:
-More backgrounds and interpretations are required in the introduction and discussion,
especially the main and novel findings from this study.
-The manuscript requires significant editorial assistance, focusing on both grammars as well the
overall structure of the manuscript such as the ordering of the paragraphs, paragraph structure
and sentence structure.
-what are the novelty, limitations, and perspectives of this work? the discussion should include
these.
-please merely don't heap up the data, more comparison and interpretation.
-could the authors provide more solid data to strengthen the conclusion of this work?
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03220-z (2024)

Title: Correlation analysis of MAFLD combined with central obesity and the incidence of
colorectal adenoma
Version: 3 Date: 15 Nov 2023
Reviewer's report:
Introduction , p 3 , line 87  : the sentence is still unclear, it should be reviewed by a native English
language speaker ( what does it mean  :  "to meet one of three conditions at the same time" ?)
Patients and Methods, p 4, line 111 :  a retrospective study does not indicate a study design,
it indicates a characteristic of a study design (e.g. a cohort study can be prospective or
retrospective)
Results, p 7, line 194 : please, list the characteristics of the subjects
etc etc
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03220-z (2024)

Title: Correlation analysis of MAFLD combined with central obesity and the incidence of
colorectal adenoma
Version: 5 Date: 29 Dec 2023
Reviewer's report:
Dear Authors,
The manuscript is much improved but according to this reviewer it still does not meet the
requirements of a good epidemiological study (for example, what does it mean: "3.4 Univariate
and multivariate analysis of high-risk adenomas in high-risk adenoma" ?). Whether or not to
accept this work depends on the Editor.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03220-z (2024)

Title: Correlation analysis of MAFLD combined with central obesity and the incidence of
colorectal adenoma
Version: 6 Date: 18 Jan 2024
Reviewer's report:
Dear editor,
I have accepted this review process. However, I found my review comments had been revised by
the authors before. Additionally, I am not very familiar with the opinions of other two reviewers
and cannot draw conclusions randomly. Therefore, I withdraw from my review process. I am
so sorry for the delay.
Sincerely
Jingyu Zhang
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03220-z (2024)

Title: Correlation analysis of MAFLD combined with central obesity and the incidence of
colorectal adenoma
Version: 6 Date: 25 Jan 2024
Reviewer's report:
- what are the novelty, limitations, and perspectives of this work? the discussion should include
these.
- please merely don't heap up the data, more comparison and interpretation.
- could the authors provide more solid data to strengthen the conclusion of this work?
- The manuscript requires significant editorial assistance, focusing on both grammars as well the
overall structure of the manuscript such as the ordering of the paragraphs, paragraph structure
and sentence structure.
- More backgrounds and interpretations are required in the introduction and discussion,
especially the main and novel findings from this study.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03220-z (2024)

Title: Correlation analysis of MAFLD combined with central obesity and the incidence of
colorectal adenoma
Version: 6 Date: 05 Feb 2024
Reviewer's report:
The work has improved a lot, even if there are still problems, for example it is better to round the
ORs to only one digit after the comma and the English is still improvable. However, the work
is interesting, the results are clear and important and deserve to be known.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03223-w (2024)

Title: Interpretable machine learning-based clinical prediction model for predicting lymph node
metastasis in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma
Version: 1 Date: 19 Feb 2024
Reviewer:  Lujun Shen
Reviewer's report:
Overall, this study is well-conducted and provides valuable insights into the prediction of
lymph node metastasis in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma using machine learning
algorithms. The methodology is sound, and the results are clearly presented. However, there are
several areas that could be improved:
As mentioned in the paper, the study lacks an analysis of lymph node metastasis by neutrophils,
lymphocytes, and monocytes. Including them in the analysis might improve the accuracy of the
prediction model. Furthermore, This study is retrospective and from a single institution, which
may limit the generalizability of the findings. It would be beneficial to validate the models using
an external dataset or in a multi-center study.
The research could benefit from a more thorough discussion on why alcoholic liver disease was
found to be a protective factor for LNM, as this is counterintuitive and contrary to previous
research.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03223-w (2024)

Title: Interpretable machine learning-based clinical prediction model for predicting lymph node
metastasis in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma
Version: 1 Date: 23 Feb 2024
Reviewer's report:
This is meaningful   well-designed study which established a web calculator  to assist clinicians
to predict LNM and developed individualized medical plans. Artificial intelligence shows
promising future in the field of medicine and radiology.
However, the variables were not adequate like  CT value,  b value of DWI, the  max diameter of
lymph node in the radiologic images, the differentiation degree of  tumor, tumor markers and
et al.  The variables are also the important factors which may related to LNM. So i suggest you
to add these  variables to this a machine learning algorithm, which could make your conclusion
more  exact.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03216-9 (2024)

Title: Downregulation of lncRNA EPB41L4A-AS1 promotes gastric cancer cell proliferation,
migration and invasion
Version: 0 Date: 14 Nov 2023
Reviewer's report:
Please provide a detailed description of the manner in which serum samples were obtained.
Please display the expression level of EPB41L4A-AS1 in each group in the form of points and
supplement the expression levels of miR-17-5p in the cells in Figure 3.
The ideas of this article are very interesting, but the experimental demonstration of the
relationship between EPB41L4A-AS1 and miR-17-5p is not sufficient and needs further
elucidation by the authors.
The authors should clarify the limitations of this study, which is necessary for a study.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03216-9 (2024)

Title: Downregulation of lncRNA EPB41L4A-AS1 promotes gastric cancer cell proliferation,
migration and invasion
Version: 0 Date: 30 Jan 2024
Reviewer's report:
- Information on reagents and instruments involved in the experimental procedure should be
supplemented.
- Adding the Recovery assay may better enrich the study.
- Please check the use of acronyms in the manuscript.
- The authors categorized the patients into EPB41L4A-AS1 low and high expression groups.
What were the criteria used?
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03214-x (2024)

Title: Inflammatory bowel disease Patients' Perspectives of non-medical needs
Version: 2 Date: 14 Nov 2023
Reviewer's report:
This study reports on “Inflammatory bowel disease Patients' Perspectives of non-medical needs:
Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis”. The topic is of interest.
However, I accept manuscript after major revision.
- Some suggestions are listed below, which may be useful to the authors as they seek to revise
their manuscript.
1) I recommend consulting the STROBE guidelines to write the manuscript.
2) Regarding the scientific writing, the submitted manuscript is not on a publishable level yet.
Many issues with cohesiveness of the paragraphs, use of strong superlatives and the use of
punctuation tools. The manuscript needs rounds of proofreading and comprehensive revision.
Abstract
Background:
- Please first provide a short background and then write the objective of your study.
Conclusion:
-This section needs improvement.
-Write the key results of your study, and provide more appropriate suggestions.
Introduction:
-This section needs improvement.
- The authors have not shown a research gap in the introduction section.
Methods
-This section is not well written and is not well-organized.
- Please provide information on:
-How were the participants interviewed? by whom? where?
-Why the "education status" of participants was not considered" This can be an important factor.
Discussion
-This section is weak and is hard to follow.
-Please write each paragraph with a purpose, and start with your key findings.
-The results were repeated in the discussion.
-Please try to have a bit more of story-telling approach with each paragraph serving a purpose
- It would be valuable to provide more scientific reasons for the findings.
-Compare your results with other studies, and elaborate on the reasons for differences and
similarities between your results and other studies.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03214-x (2024)

Title: Inflammatory bowel disease Patients' Perspectives of non-medical needs
Version: 2 Date: 27 Nov 2023
Reviewer's report:
PEER REVIEWER ASSESSMENTS:
OBJECTIVE - Full research articles: is there a clear objective that addresses a testable research
question(s) (brief or other article types: is there a clear objective)?
No - there are major issues
DESIGN - Is the current approach (including controls and analysis protocols) appropriate for
the objective?
No - there are major issues
EXECUTION - Are the experiments and analyses performed with technical rigor to allow
confidence in the results?
No - there are major issues
STATISTICS - Is the use of statistics in the manuscript appropriate?
No - there are issues with the statistics in the study
INTERPRETATION - Is the current interpretation/discussion of the results reasonable and not
overstated?
No - there are major issues
OVERALL MANUSCRIPT POTENTIAL - Is the current version of this work technically
sound? If not, can revisions be made to make the work technically sound?
Maybe - with major revisions
PEER REVIEWER COMMENTS:
GENERAL COMMENTS: In the abstract, EFA should be presented first as this is the analysis
sequence.
The presentation of results is confusing - how many factors were identified by the EFA and how
large was the item pool? The way it is presented there are over 10 factors identified.
Less than 50% of the sample of 1772 IBD patients participated. This should be clearer with
regard to the response rate presented.
It is not clear why the authors would include demographic questions within the item pool.
There are a number of different type of questions - with different likert-type options. This should
be justified.
The sample size of 644 was also not consistent with the  sample sizes previously reported.
There appears to be many different scales and factors that were analysed in this study. It’s not
clear if this is one instrument or a series of scales the authors are validating. If this was one
instrument - one EFA and one CFA should be run on the entire pool of items. Or have they
developed a number of small scales?
REQUESTED REVISIONS:
In the abstract, EFA should be presented first as this is the analysis sequence.
The presentation of results is confusing - how many factors were identified by the EFA and how
large was the item pool? The way it is presented there are over 10 factors identified.
Less than 50% of the sample of 1772 IBD patients participated. This should be clearer with
regard to the response rate presented.
It is not clear why the authors would include demographic questions within the item pool.
There are a number of different type of questions - with different likert-type options. This should
be justified.
The sample size of 644 was also not consistent with the  sample sizes previously reported.
There appears to be many different scales and factors that were analysed in this study. It’s not
clear if this is one instrument or a series of scales the authors are validating. If this was one
instrument - one EFA and one CFA should be run on the entire pool of items. Or have they
developed a number of small scales?
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03214-x (2024)

Title: Inflammatory bowel disease Patients' Perspectives of non-medical needs
Version: 3 Date: 21 Jan 2024
Reviewer's report:
PEER REVIEWER ASSESSMENTS:
OBJECTIVE - Full research articles: is there a clear objective that addresses one or several
testable research questions? (Brief or other article types: is there a clear objective?)
Yes - there is a clear objective
DESIGN - Is the current approach (including controls and analysis protocols) appropriate for
the objective?
No - there are major issues
EXECUTION - Are the experiments and analyses performed with sufficient technical rigor to
allow confidence in the results?
No - there are major issues
STATISTICS - Is the use of statistics in the manuscript appropriate?
No - there are issues with the statistics in the study
INTERPRETATION - Is the current interpretation/discussion of the results reasonable and not
overstated?
No - there are minor issues
OVERALL MANUSCRIPT POTENTIAL - Has the author addressed your concerns sufficiently
for you to now recommend the work as a technically sound contribution? If not, can further
revisions be made to make the work technically sound?
Maybe - with major revisions
PEER REVIEWER COMMENTS:
GENERAL COMMENTS: It remains uncertain why demographic variables were included in the
EFA/CFA. A more elegant approach would be to identify factors and then assess the correlates
of these factors. I would suggest removing demographic variables from the EFA/CFA.
The use of 12 factors also needs to be justified - how will researchers or clinicians use this many
constructs in clinical or research work? How is this informative?
If there were a series of EFA/CFA on different scales, it cannot then be presented as one CFA.
This remains confusing.
By what definition is a 12 factor model with 56 items efficient?
REQUESTED REVISIONS:
It remains uncertain why demographic variables were included in the EFA/CFA. A more elegant
approach would be to identify factors and then assess the correlates of these factors. I would
suggest removing demographic variables from the EFA/CFA.
The use of 12 factors also needs to be justified - how will researchers or clinicians use this many
constructs in clinical or research work? How is this informative?
If there were a series of EFA/CFA on different scales, it cannot then be presented as one CFA.
This remains confusing.
By what definition is a 12 factor model with 56 items efficient?
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03218-7 (2024)

Title: Level Of Interleukin 17 In Inflammatory Bowel Disease And Its Relation With Disease
Activity
Version: 2 Date: 16 Dec 2023
Reviewer's report:
Overall, there are many instances of non-standard punctuation in this draft.
The title of the study was too broad, favoring inflammatory colon disease over inflammatory
bowel disease.
There is no mention of the inclusion of "smoking habits" as a differentiator in the trial design,
but this is addressed in the subsequent study tables and in the discussion of the conclusions.
In the INTRODUCTION section, the role of IL-17 is described first, followed by a description
of the applications of IL-17, which is more in line with the reading order.
The METHODOLOGY section, in general, was a bit confusing and it felt like it was randomly
thrown together when you couldn't see the key sections.
There is no mention of how the situation "Patients may be "active" or "inactive” Patients may
be newly diagnosed or on existing therapy. " was handled in the categorized patient groups.
What is the rationale for the selection of the previous coefficients from “Sample size calculation
was based on correlation co-efficient…. ” , I hope that is reflected.
In the method presentation of serum IL-17 section, there is inconsistency in the formatting and
inconsistency in the detailed description of the ELISA method is something that needs to be
brought to one's attention, please show it. And there are more formatting errors in part " then
measured as mcg/g;( under 50 is considered to be normal., between 50 and 100, coupled with
digestive symptoms as IBS , between 100 and 250 is inconclusive, and over 250 means IBD
is likely."
In the colonoscopy section, there are expressions of unclear meaning like " After staining with
haematoxylin and eosin."
The RESULTS section is simply a stack of tables, the labeling of the tables is sloppy, table 1
does not indicate the meaning of KW, and a short summary of the results of the charts would be
appreciated. The curves in Figure 1 are also not clearly labeled.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03218-7 (2024)

Title: Level Of Interleukin 17 In Inflammatory Bowel Disease And Its Relation With Disease
Activity
Version: 2 Date: 20 Dec 2023
Reviewer's report:
I appreciate the opportunity to review the manuscript titled "Interleukin 17 Level in
Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Its Relationship with Disease Activity."
This is a cross-sectional study conducted at a single center, with the primary objective of
detecting IL-17 levels in the serum of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and
analyzing their relationship with disease activity.
After a thorough review of the manuscript, I would like to highlight the following considerations:
1. While the manuscript's title aligns with the research objective, it does not adequately reflect
the study's main results.
3. It is important to avoid mixing patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease in the data
analysis, as evidenced in Table 2, as these are two entities with different clinical profiles.
4. It is noteworthy that Table 2 does not show significant differences in biochemical parameters
between IBD patients and controls. This lack of differentiation may be due, once again, to the
grouping of patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease in the same group.
5. I suggest considering the evaluation of clinical, biochemical, endoscopic, and histological
activity in separate groups for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, along with an analysis of
their relationship with serological markers and IL-17 levels.
6. The absence of information about the method of subject recruitment in the study could
introduce selection bias that may affect the representativeness of the sample.
7. Given that the control group consists of only 21 healthy volunteers, it should be noted that
this may limit the study's ability to detect significant differences compared to the IBD groups,
especially if there is not adequate matching in terms of demographic characteristics.
8. The lack of longitudinal data in the study prevents obtaining a more comprehensive
understanding of the relationship between IL-17 levels and the progression of disease activity
over time.
9. It would be beneficial to include more details about the validation and reliability of the ELISA
tests used to measure IL-17 levels, including information about intra- and inter-assay variability.
10. The absence of an association between serum IL-17 levels and disease activity raises
questions about the validity of the results of the ROC curve analysis.
The study has a solid foundation, but there are some inconsistencies and important
considerations that need to be addressed to enhance the validity and interpretation of the results.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03218-7 (2024)

Title: Level Of Interleukin 17 In Inflammatory Bowel Disease And Its Relation With Disease
Activity
Version: 6 Date: 03 Mar 2024
Reviewer's report:
This article explores the levels of IL-17 in IBD and the relationship between IL-17 and disease
activity through a cross-sectional study, which I think has been refined a lot by the last revision,
but there are a few areas that are still of some concern.
1. I think it is better to use subheadings to summarize and segment the description of
methodology, as this will make the reading clearer. For the results, I think it also needs to be
segmented using subheadings, followed immediately by the content of the results, with graphical
information, which will make the important parts stand out.
2. In the section discussing differences in IL-17 levels and disease activity, I think that "Serum
level of IL-17 was studied in 50 subjects with CD, there were no UC cases (only 20 patients
were in activity) and 40 healthy control." needs to be specified as the experiment of which study.
It would be better to analyze the possible reasons for the lack of difference.
Overall, I think that the article somewhat explains the purpose of the study and could have been
better with a little consideration of this part of the revision.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03210-1 (2024)

Title: Evaluation of models to predict prognosis in patients with advanced hepatocellular
carcinoma treated with TACE combined with apatinib
Version: 2 Date: 16 Feb 2024
Reviewer's report:
We revised,, with interest, the manuscript with the title “Evaluation of models to predict
prognosis in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with TACE combined with
apatinib.”
In which the authors evaluated the performance of three predictive scores to predict survival in
patients with HCC treated by TACE and apatinib
A well written manuscript with straightforward study design and results, However, some
comments need to be addressed
Introduction:
Page 5: this phrase [This will aid in choosing appropriate treatment options for clinical
application] , better to be [ this will aid in choosing appropriate patient for selected treatment
options]
Exclusion criteria:
The sentence “ decompensated stage of liver cirrhosis” is not appropriate, as you mentioned in
the inclusion that child class B is included. It’s better to define a score point to include/exclude
patients either child score B 7 or 8 or 9)
Methods:
Did endoscopy have been done  before systemic therapy ?
Results, characteristics of patients:
Line 4: “ while 72 patients developed hepatic metastasis (36%).” What does it mean ?”
Its better to describe tumor sizes in ranges also “minimum – maximum”
Can you provide data about the TACE treatment response after TACE session based on the
appropriate LI-RAD system ?
Discussion, page 11:
“However, the multivariate analysis did not identify tumor number as an independent risk factor
for overall survival”. How can you explain this finding while at the same time, the six and twelve
score (which by definition include tumor burden parameters in its calculation), is defined in the
study as a good prognostic score?
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03225-8 (2024)

Title: Comparison of vonoprazan dual therapy, quadruple therapy and standard quadruple
therapy for Helicobacter pylori infection in Hainan: A single- center, open-label, non-inferiority,
randomized controlled trial
Version: 1 Date: 02 Feb 2024
Reviewer:  Marouf Alhalabi
Reviewer's report:
-A detailed sample size calculations as supplemental papers is preferred.
-methods for random numbers generating, and was the process adequately
concealed to prevent selection bias?
- chi-square or Fisher exact tests, typically suited for two-group comparisons, employed for
analyzing data across three groups?
- it would be valuable to consider blinding data entry personnel, outcome evaluators, and
statisticians c
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03225-8 (2024)

Title: Comparison of vonoprazan dual therapy, quadruple therapy and standard quadruple
therapy for Helicobacter pylori infection in Hainan: A single- center, open-label, non-inferiority,
randomized controlled trial
Version: 1 Date: 09 Feb 2024
Reviewer's report:
This study investigated H. pylori eradication outcomes with vonoprazan-based dual and
quadruple therapies compared to conventional PPI quadruple therapy. The concept is interesting,
but there are some concerns. Please refer to the following comments.
1. This study seems to compare three treatment groups with a chi-square test. I do not think
that this result supports the conclusion that “VPZ dual therapy or quadruple therapy was found
to be equally effective and safer and less costly than standard quadruple therapy”. The “not
significant difference between the 3 groups” does not mean equal treatment efficacy. To indicate
the outcome, an appropriate non-inferiority test (with multiple testing corrections) between V1
vs V2 and V2 vs V3 is needed.
2. The one-side alpha level of 0.1 is generally insufficient. This level means that the outcomes
are evaluated at 80% CI. So, it has a higher Type I error.
3. This study compares three treatment groups. Multiple testing corrections (e.g., Bonferroni or
Benjamini-Hochberg) are needed to indicate appropriate outcomes.
4. Which methods were used for confirming H. pylori infection at the study registration (i.g.
rapid urease test, culture, antibody test, stool antigen, or others)? As the diagnostic accuracy
differs a little bit between the methods, it potentially affects the treatment outcomes in each
group. Used methods in each group should be shown.
5. There are some representative articles worldwide related to this topic (Gut.
2020;69(6):1019-1026. Gastroenterology. 2022;163(3):608-619.), but why did the authors refer
to only studies from China? Scientific articles in English have been published worldwide. So,
the authors should mention and discuss with international studies.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03225-8 (2024)

Title: Comparison of vonoprazan dual therapy, quadruple therapy and standard quadruple
therapy for Helicobacter pylori infection in Hainan: A single- center, open-label, non-inferiority,
randomized controlled trial
Version: 3 Date: 27 Feb 2024
Reviewer's report:
My comments have been addressed. I have no further comments.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03225-8 (2024)

Title: Comparison of vonoprazan dual therapy, quadruple therapy and standard quadruple
therapy for Helicobacter pylori infection in Hainan: A single- center, open-label, non-inferiority,
randomized controlled trial
Version: 3 Date: 01 Mar 2024
Reviewer:  Marouf Alhalabi
Reviewer's report:
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03225-8 (2024)

Title: Comparison of vonoprazan dual therapy, quadruple therapy and standard quadruple
therapy for Helicobacter pylori infection in Hainan: A single- center, open-label, non-inferiority,
randomized controlled trial
Version: 4 Date: 03 Apr 2024
Reviewer:  Marouf Alhalabi
Reviewer's report:
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03200-3 (2024)

Title: SUCCESSFUL THERAPY WITH TENOFOVIR DISOPROXIL FUMARATE (TDF)
IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS B (CHB) DOES NOT GUARANTEE
AMELIORATION OF LIVER DAMAGE ASSESSING BY TRANSIENT ELASTOGRAPHY.
A RETROSPECTIVE - PROSPECTIVE MULTICENTER STUDY
Version: 1 Date: 20 Dec 2023
Reviewer's report:
Entecavir, Tenofovir dispoproxil fumarate, and Tenofovir alafenamide are the third generation
nucleos(t)ide analogs recommended as first-line monotherapy by all international guidelines
for treating of chronic hepatitis B (CHB).  These drugs achieve sustained on-treatment viral
suppression in more than 95% of patients, resulting in several clinical benefits such as prevention
of cirrhosis and liver decompensation, improvement of liver histology, and often reversion of
histologic cirrhosis. However, HCC can still develop and it is currently the major complication
in the long-term management of CHB patients. In this Paper, the Authors aimed to address the
changes in liver stiffness assessed by transient elastography in CHB patients receiving long-term
TDF in a real-world setting and to investigate non-virological parameters that are associated with
fibrosis regression or progression. Their results confirmed that successful long term TDF therapy
had a beneficial effect in liver fibrosis, specially in patients with advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis.
Interestingly in this study, despite sustained virological response, ¼ of patients had progressive
liver disease due to non-virologic factors implicated in liver damage such as metabolic factors.
The Paper is very well written and the results are very interesting. I feel that it can be considered
for publication.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03200-3 (2024)

Title: SUCCESSFUL THERAPY WITH TENOFOVIR DISOPROXIL FUMARATE (TDF)
IN PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC HEPATITIS B (CHB) DOES NOT GUARANTEE
AMELIORATION OF LIVER DAMAGE ASSESSING BY TRANSIENT ELASTOGRAPHY.
A RETROSPECTIVE - PROSPECTIVE MULTICENTER STUDY
Version: 5 Date: 20 Feb 2024
Reviewer:  Francesca Di Cosimo
Reviewer's report:
The manuscript was modified by the authors according to all my requests. Therefore I now
consider it suitable for publication.