Review for 10.1186/s12876-020-01331-x (2020)

Reviewer’ s report
Title: Prevalence of non Helicobacter pylori gastric Helicobacters in Iranian dyspeptic patients
Version: 3Date: 05 Mar 2020
Reviewer's report:1.There are two Non-Helicobacter pylori gastric Helicobacters (NHPGHs) abbreviations in the
abstract2.The authors need to present a flow chart with the below numbers in results: a.The
number of patients with dyspepsiab.The number of patients who had biopsy c.The number ofpatients being excluded according to exclusion criteriad.Among them, the numbers of patientswith co-infection, H. pylori mono-infected, and NHPGH mono-infected patientsWithout thesenumbers, this is not even an epidemiological study. Otherwise the authors are telling the readersthat 100% of dyspeptic patients are infected by helicobacter species.3.They need to emphasize thatthis study only focused on NHPGH mono-infected patients and report the limitation of notincluding co-infected and compare the relationship between these subgroups in the limit-ation.4."No obvious correlation was observed between histological findings and infection due toNHPGH species." The authors did not perform any correlation analyses, so this conclusion is notvalid. If they did, they need to present the result. Data from table 3 are just the exhibition of casenumbers.5.Patient sampling is not clear enough, "surgery, and history of treatment usingantibiotics", do these mean all kinds of surgery and all kinds of antibiotic treatment? "non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, bismuth salts, or proton pump inhibitors" do these mean thatever had these medications? If this is the case, the authors have to specify how many patients wereexcluded based on that and explain the prevalence of not having NSAID, PPI, surgery orantibiotics in their lifetime. 6.In method section "Real time PCR alone as a conformity test forPCR (not a quantitative test)". How many patients have more than one NHPGH species? 7."The
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium model was used in Chi-square goodness of fit test before further
analyses." The authors need to expand this sentence by explaining the theory and application ofthis method. 8.Molecular epidemiology does not fit the title as no molecular epidemiologicalanalyses were presented. This is simply a study that presenting number of patient with certainhelicobacter species. Using PCR does not mean that this is a molecular study and without theappropriate denominator (as mentioned above), this is not an epidemiological study
Are the methods appropriate and well described?
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.
NoDoes the work include the necessary controls?
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comments to the authors.
NoAre the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.
No
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an
additional statistical review?If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects require furtherassessment in your comments to the editors.
I am able to assess the statistics
Quality of written English
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