Review for 10.1186/s12876-021-01626-7 (2021)

Reviewer’s report
Title: 
Identification of Potential Biomarkers for Abdominal Pain in IBS Patients
by Bioinformatics Approach
Version: 
0 
Date: 
07 Oct 2020
Reviewer's report:
RE: Manuscript 
BMGE-D-20-00661 
Author: Zhongyuan Lin 
TITLE: Identification of potential biomarkers for abdominal pain in IBS patients
by bioinformatics approach
In the present study the authors evaluated gene expression in rectal biopsies from
IBS-D patients and healthy controls, aiming to identify potential biomarkers for
visceral sensitivity.
The topic is very interesting, however some important methodological issues
need to be addressed, as well the manuscript needs a deep text revision. 
1. Authors studied the subgroup of IBS patients with diarrhea, while gene
expression analysis focused on pain transmission: unfortunately pain was not
evaluated in the studied population. Pain should be evaluated and we suggest to
include IBS-C patients.
2. The authors describe 53 samples from IBS-D patients and 40 samples from
healthy volunteers: how many patients and volunteers did they enrolled in the
study?
3. Patients were studied at baseline and after treatment with sodium
cromoglycate: the rationale of the study is unclear, did authors expect any effect
of cromoglycate on gene expression? Furthermore, data after cromoglycate
treatment are not shown. 
Authors should justify the study design and show the
results.
4. Why healthy volunteers underwent colonoscopy? Was the study approved by
a local ethical committee? Was a written consensus obtained? 
5. Statistic is not described in the methods. 
6. Methods should be revised by a geneticist
7. Please revise the manuscript (unclear sentences): 
a. Pag 5, lines 51-54: "… (IBS-D) patients and the healthy volunteers (HVs),
especially the functional associations related to neurotransmitters/mediators of
pain". This sentence is unclear, should be rewritten. 
b. Pag 8, lines 56 - pag 9 line 1: "[12] originally submitted the GSE36701
dataset, performed mRNA expression profiling study of rectal biopsies from
donors with healthy volunteers and IBS-D patients. This sentence is unclear,
needs to be rewritten 
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Is the study design appropriate to answer the research question (including the use
of appropriate controls), and are the conclusions supported by the evidence
presented?
No
Are the methods sufficiently described to allow the study to be repeated?
No
Is the use of statistics and treatment of uncertainties appropriate?
No
Is the presentation of the work clear?
No
Are the images in this manuscript (including electrophoretic gels and blots) free
from apparent manipulation?
Yes