JerMa88/BMC_Gastroenterology_Peer_Reviews huggingface dataset:
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-69 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitors have distinct effects on the hemodynamics
of the liver
Version: 3Date:11 August 2009
Reviewer: Martin Hennenberg
Reviewer's report:
Comments:
Based on the reviewer comments, the authors performed changes in the
manuscript and of the presentation of their data. Indeed, the manuscript and the
presentation of the data has been improved. As explained by the authors, the
discrepant findings of different authors and for different substances may raise a
requirement of further investigations of the effects of PDE5 inhibitors on liver
hemodynamics and/or portal hypertension. However, some concerns with regard
to the necessity of the study, and with the missing citations may still remain.
It remains hard to understand why the authors argue that such studies in
non-cirrhotic animals are required before starting clinical trials, although they
already performed studies in patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension.
Thus, in the introduction the authors explain that the current study is based on
findings obtained from studies patients with cirrhosis, while the discussion leads
to the final conclusion that the current animal study raises the need of further
studies in patients with cirrhosis.
With regard to the other existing studies performed with PDE5 inhibitors in animal
models of cirrhosis, it is right that these did not deal with hepatic hemodynamics.
However, citation in the current manuscript may be useful to underline that
extrahepatic hemodynamic effects of PDE5 inhibitors may strongly dependent on
the dose and the mode of application, as this represents an important conclusion
made by the authors of the current study (although it is not the major conclusion).
As the effects of PDE5 inhibitors on hemodynamics in the liver and in cirrhosis
are poorly understood and discussed controversely, the current study may
represent a further contribution to this discussion, which may be appreciated by
publication of the data.
Minor points:
References should be checked again. Some confusion exists, as the paper of
Colle et al. is mentioned as reference 36 in the comments, but as number 41 in
the manuscript.
Likewise, all doses and their spelling should be checked again for correctness. In
the comments, the authors mention ?1000 or 1.000 microgram/kg? within one
sentence, but regard them as different.
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-68 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Mapping of HNF4alpha target genes in intestinal epithelial cells unravels a
gene regulatory network involving Cdx-2.
Version: 1Date:9 March 2009
Reviewer: Dallas M Swallow
Reviewer's report:
This paper reports a careful study designed to identify promoters upregulated by
HNF4 alpha. The authors made use of differentiated Caco-2 cells, followed by
chromatin immunoprecipitation with specific antibodies for HNF4A, or acetylated
histone, DNA amplification and Chip hybridisation analysis. Identification
depended on inclusion of promoters within a set, supplied by the company
NimbleGen, taken from some 25,000 genes. The data obtained for HNF4A were
matched with gene expression and histone acetylation data. 1541 potential
targets were identified, which when characterised by gene ontology were shown
to include many involved in lipid and amino-acid transport and metabolism..
Additional experimental data was provided for 3 genes (CGN, Cdx-2 and TREH)
and Cdx-2 and Treh binding was confirmed as well for mouse intestine.
By using a combination of bioinformatic, high throughput and detailed
experimental approaches the authors have produced a very detailed and useful
picture of the role of this transcription factor in intestinal gene expression and
differentiation.
This paper is well and clearly written and provides a very useful contribution to
the field
There are a few minor points:
Essential
1 First paragraph of the Introduction; the statement that only two types of cells
occur in the adult colon should be rephrased because as written this may not be
completely true. eg two major cell types predominate in the colon
2 Second paragraph of the Introduction --’which is only expressed in the intestine
of the adult mouse’ should be reworded ‘which in the adult mouse is only
expressed in the intestine.’
3 It might be easier to follow the methodological detail of this paper if it were
ordered to more strictly correspond to the Results section and/or there were
more subheadings. For example the term lysate would be easier if the previous
section was headed ‘preparation of lysate’ –or perhaps rather, cross linked
chromatin fragments?
4 On page 15 a reference is needed for cingulin’s tight junction role.
5 The sentence on page 16 stating that certain promoters were not analysed
correctly with the NimbleGen array needs clarification.
6 The figure legends need clear titles, distinct from the explanations
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
no
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-68 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Mapping of HNF4alpha target genes in intestinal epithelial cells
Version: 5Date:13 June 2009
Reviewer: Jean-Noel FREUND
Reviewer's report:
The authors have addressed all the questions that were raised except one which
is highly relevant.
This study concerns the role of HNF4a in intestinal differentiation. All the
experiments using microarrays, ChIP, bandshift assays etc have been performed
in human colon cancer cells. Moreover, 2 of the 3 downstream genes that were
analysed more in detail, are intestine-specific, namely the transcription factor
Cdx2 and the digestive enzyme, threhalase. However, the functional assays on
targets promoters (luciferase assays) have been performed using kidney (COS7)
instead of intestinal cells. Because it is obvious that the function of a transcription
factor is highly dependent on the nuclear context, the authors should perform
transfection assays in intestinal cells. This is even more important for the present
study since the stimulatory effect exerted by HNF4a on 2 downstream targets
(Cdx2 and Cingulin) are quantitatively low, respectively 1.5 and 1.3, as estimated
from the data shown in Figs 2E and 4E.
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-68 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Mapping of HNF4alpha target genes in intestinal epithelial cells
Version: 7Date:8 September 2009
Reviewer: Jean-Noel FREUND
Reviewer's report:
The point raised for the second revision has been correctly addressed by the
authors. So I recommend this manuscript for publication in BMC
Gastroenterology.
Note that several references have to be corrected/completed:
#20, 24, 44, 47, 57
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-67 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Lack of efficacy of blueberry in nutritional prevention of
azoxymethane-initiated cancers of rat small intestine and colon
Version: 1Date:15 May 2009
Reviewer: usanee Vinitketkumnuen
Reviewer's report:
General comments:
The manuscript reports the lack of preventive effects of blueberry fruits on
AOM-induced colon preneoplastic lesion (ACF) formation in rats. However, data
show that BB consumption may protect AOM-induced carcinogenesis in male
rats and male rats are more susceptible to AOM-induced ACF formation than
female rats. In addition, no data of food intake by each rat during experiment, the
lack of amount of bioactive component (anthocyanin) intake, makes the result
difficult to conclude.
- Major Compulsory Revisions
1. The authors should report the dose of bioactive compounds in BB that each rat
received. Why do female rats ‘ body weigh gain less than male rats? The author
should explain reason why use 10% BB instead of 5% from previous report,
because they found different and opposite results.
2. The authors have to define criteria the detection of AP (adenomatous polyps)
and AC (adenocarcinoma) in colon and small intestine.
3. The authors discuss about apoptosis mechanism in proximal part but no
experimental results.
- Minor Essential Revisions
1. The author should discuss why C-peptide in female rats is about 30% lower
than male rats.
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-67 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Lack of efficacy of blueberry in nutritional prevention of
azoxymethane-initiated cancers of rat small intestine and colon
Version: 1Date:23 June 2009
Reviewer: Denis Corpet
Reviewer's report:
This is a well written, well designed study of “anti-cancer” effect of freeze-dried
blueberry on an accepted animal model of chemically induced colorectal cancer.
The results show tha blueberry has little or no effect. Additional findings concern
gender differences, and intestinal sites differences.
1- The authors should cite, and comment, a highly relevant paper on the same
topic, but using a different animal model, and a different “blueberry powder”:
Cooke D, Schwarz M, Boocock D, Winterhalter P, Steward WP, Gescher AJ,
Marczylo TH.
Int J Cancer. 2006 Nov 1;119(9):2213-20.
Effect of cyanidin-3-glucoside and an anthocyanin mixture from bilberry on
adenoma development in the ApcMin mouse model of intestinal
carcinogenesis--relationship with tissue anthocyanin levels.
2- Reviewer thinks that one of the cited references (ref.26), which is highly
relevant to the present study, contains “very strange” data that are in strong
contrast with the present MS findings. Reviewer suggests the authors could still
cite ref.26, but that their discussion should leave some “doubts” on ref.26 results.
26. Boateng J, Verghese M, Shackelford L, Walker LT, Khatiwada J, Ogutu S,
Williams DS, Jones J, Guyton M, et al.: Selected fruits reduce azoxymethane
(AOM)-induced aberrant crypt foci (ACF) in Fisher 344 male rats. Food
Chem Toxicol 2007, 45:725-32.
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-66 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Efficacy and safety of infliximab induction therapy in Crohn's Disease in
Central Europe - a Hungarian nationwide observational study
Version: 1Date:26 December 2008
Reviewer: Renato Caviglia
Reviewer's report:
Reviewer’s comments on Manuscript: Efficacy and safety of infliximab induction
therapy in Crohn's Disease in Central Europe - a Hungarian nationwide
observational study
This paper addresses an important and widely-investigated topic dealing with the
efficacy and safety of biologic therapy as induction treatment in Crohn’s disease.
In this retrospective study the authors evaluate a total of 363 CD patients treated
with IFX during a 6-year-period, beginning in 2000, in eleven centres in Hungary.
Major Compulsory Revisions:
1. The Authors should pay attention when using acronyms if not already
mentioned (i.e., AZA).
2. Methods. The Authors cannot state here that patients were treated according
to ECCO guidelines for IFX administration strategy in CD patients because these
guidelines were published in 2006 and this retrospective study was started in
2000.
3. Results. It would be useful to stratify patients according to the IFX treatment
strategy (on demand vs scheduled induction treatment) and perform a separate
statistical evaluation.
4. Results. The Authors should provide more information about pre-treatment
clinical data (i.e., CDAI) and biologic parameters (CRP, ESR, serum
haemoglobin levels) and how these parameters improved following treatment.
Moreover, the endoscopic findings should be included as mucosal healing is now
considered a therapeutic goal to be achieved with biologic therapy.
5. Results. It should be clearly reported how and when (i.e., how many weeks
after the last infusion) the Authors evaluated the clinical outcome following the
IFX induction regimen.
6. Results. The Authors should provide more information about the concomitant
immunomodulatory treatment that the patients were on during IFX therapy (i.e.,
dose and duration of treatment).
In conclusion, in my opinion the manuscript is not exactly positive and the text is
redundant in several parts and therefore makes reading a little boring.
However, the paper could be reconsidered for publication if the Authors take into
account the suggestions outlined above and modify the text accordingly.
Thank you for allowing me to review this paper.
Best regards.
Yours sincerely,
Renato Caviglia MD, PhD
Level of interest: An article of limited interest
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
'I declare that I have no competing interests'
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-66 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Efficacy and safety of infliximab induction therapy in Crohn's Disease in
Central Europe - a Hungarian nationwide observational study
Version: 1Date:19 January 2009
Reviewer: Gert van Assche
Reviewer's report:
This retrospective analysis describes the experience with the use of infliximab in
Hungary in the past 8 years and includes 363 patients. It is in line with several
other previous cohort studies and confirms the high efficacy of infliximab
induction therapy in clinical practice. The original part of this work is that it would
be the first report from a Hungarian cohort. However, I have several questions on
trial design and on the interpretation of the results. The main methodological
concern is the lack of multivariate analysis.
Specific remarks.
1. The abstract result section can be shortened.
2. Since many of the patient charts were analyzed retrospectively it is unclear
how CDAIs were calculated in these patients. Also, we wonder how many
patients had missing values?
3. The methods section on the statistical analysis is incomplete since no
reference is made to proportional data.
4. It appears that both in luminal and fistulizing Crohn’s disease several
parameters were associated with response: immunosuppressives, age…
However, a multivariate analysis is needed to establish the independent
predictive value of these factors.
5. Several p values are missing in the result section.
6. The absence of a full induction therapy, long drug holidays and other factors
have been associated with infusion reactions to infliximab. Was this analyzed?
7. The situation in Hungary appears to favour episodic infliximab therapy,
therefore it would be highly valuable if long term response rates and survival
analysis would be performed.
8. The discussion should not mention recommendations as they are often based
on a few patients only.
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-66 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Efficacy and safety of infliximab induction therapy in Crohn's Disease in
Central Europe - a Hungarian nationwide observational study
Version: 1Date:5 February 2009
Reviewer: Johanna Escher
Reviewer's report:
The authors did a fine job collecting the data on efficacy of infliximab induction
therapy from all over Hungary. It is however one of the many reports on
infliximab that have been published in the past years. I think the paper can
improve by doing some essential revisions based on the comments below:
Major:
1. The report is aimed only at induction treatment, but data collection was done in
a 6-year period. It should be possible to give some information about
maintenance treatment, even given the fact that some patients were not allowed
to get it for financial reasons. A flowchart with numbers of patients going into
maintenance treatment and duration of remission would improve the paper
significantly.
2. The study is partly retrospective, partly prospective. The authors should in the
discussion elaborate on the effect this may have on data collection (bias? better
reporting of side effects, etc).
3. The authors need to describe in more detail the indication for infliximab
treatment. For instance, how do they define refractory disease both when it is
luminal but also fistulas (the majority of patients).
4. Quite a few post-surgical patients were included, they represent a different
group and should be mentioned in the tables as well
Minor:
1. response rate in fistulizing disease: it seems that two different definitions are
used (50% closure or number of discharging fistulas compare to baseline)
2. tuberculosis: explain the policy in Hungary about doing (or not doing) a PPD
before starting IFX
3. in the results, the better response rate in younger patients is mentioned twice
on consectuive pages.
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-66 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Efficacy and safety of infliximab induction therapy in Crohn's Disease in
Central Europe - a Hungarian nationwide observational study
Version: 2Date:6 May 2009
Reviewer: Renato Caviglia
Reviewer's report:
No Major Compulsory Revisions
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-66 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Efficacy and safety of infliximab induction therapy in Crohn's Disease in
Central Europe - a Hungarian nationwide observational study
Version: 2Date:4 July 2009
Reviewer: Johanna Escher
Reviewer's report:
major revisions: the authors have revised the manuscript satisfactorily and have
replied very well to the comments
minor revisions: the manuscript has improved significantly
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-65 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Stromal Regulatory T-Cells are associated with a Favorable Prognosis in
Gastric Cancer of the Cardia
Version: 1Date:11 June 2009
Reviewer: Awen Gallimore
Reviewer's report:
It is widely reported in the literature that Tregs promote cancer progression by
inhibiting effective anti-tumour immune responses. This conclusion stems from
work in animal models and reports of high Treg frequencies in patients with
cancer and the demonstration that these cells can inhibit anti-tumour immune
responses. However, there are also reports, albeit fewer in number, that Tregs
can limit cancer progression by dampening down inflammatory processes that
facilitate tumour progression. With this dichotomy in mind, studies such as this by
Haas et al, which report on Treg ratios within TILs are important and informative.
The methods utilised for enumeration of cells in tumour and lymph node in the
study are straightforward and well described. My experience of performing the
type of statistical analyses presented in the paper is limited thus it is difficult for
me to comment on the validity of the processed data. The conclusions are
interesting and important and indicate using tumour specimens obtained from
patients with gastric cancer that there is a need for caution in considering the role
of Tregs in cancer progression.
The data presented in Figure 3 appears to indicate that the ratio of Tregs to non
Treg T cells is higher in both tumour stroma and affected lymph nodes compared
to control lymph nodes. Are these differences significant and how might this data
impact on the authors’ interpretation of the overall data set?
Could the authors clarify what was meant by overall survival as they state that
this was defined as period from surgery to death or end of follow-up. Was the
follow-up period the same for all patients? If not, how might differences in the
length of the follow-up period affect calculated survival times?
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: Yes, but I do not feel adequately qualified to assess the
statistics.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-65 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Stromal Regulatory T-Cells are associated with a Favorable Prognosis in
Gastric Cancer of the Cardia
Version: 3Date:24 July 2009
Reviewer: Christoph Loddenkemper
Reviewer's report:
The authors have successfully adressed all my comments and I now recommend
to accept the paper to be published in BMC Gastroenterology.
Best regards,
Christoph Loddenkemper
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
'I declare that I have no competing interests'
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-65 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Stromal Regulatory T-Cells are associated with a Favorable Prognosis in
Gastric Cancer of the Cardia
Version: 3Date:11 August 2009
Reviewer: Awen Gallimore
Reviewer's report:
The authors have addressed all points raised.
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: Yes, but I do not feel adequately qualified to assess the
statistics.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-64 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Using an oblique incident laser beam to measure the optical properties of
stomach mucosa/submucosa tissue
Version: 1Date:26 May 2008
Reviewer: Landulfo Silveira Jr.
Reviewer's report:
Major Compulsory Revisions.
The “Theory” subsection in Material and Methods should be placed in
Introduction section.
The paragraph starting with “It is obvious that using …” needs to be more
clarified.
The first paragraph in “Sample Preparation” subsection has repetitive parts and
need to be re-written in order to become more clear.
How the thickness of samples were measured?
“Tissue samples was” ????
The first paragraph of the subsection “Measurements of diffuse reflectance” is
confusing. I recommend to use a table to indicate laser source and wavelength
instead of explaining along the text.
In order to use the Student t-test one needs to test for normality first.
The first paragraph of Results section has information about Methodology. I
suggest to rewrite this paragraph.
Please indicate the coefficients in cm-1 instead of mm-1.
Authors use the word “obvious” in several parts of the text. Scientific reports
should not be so emphatic.
Some paragraphs are too long: the 2nd paragraph on page 6 ends in the middle
of page 7.
It is not clear how the image from the CCD was converted to the optical
properties. Is there a scattering pattern such as interference? How this image is
fit in the equations?
In general, the whole text needs to be more clear and the experimental part
should be described with more detail and concise explanation.
Results are not clear and not linked to the objectives, and the discussion is
weakly binded with the results from the experimental data.
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
Statistical review: Yes, and I have assessed the statistics in my report.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests.
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-64 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Using an oblique incident laser beam to measure the optical properties of
stomach mucosa/submucosa tissue
Version: 1Date:12 June 2008
Reviewer: Alexey N Bashkatov
Reviewer's report:
In this paper the authors investigated the optical properties of stomach tissues.
The study is very interesting and important for tissue optics, and data presented
in the paper can be used for many medical applications. Therefore, the paper of
Wei et al. is very important and relevant and so the paper may be accepted to
publishing in BMC Gastroenterology. However, some remarks should be
corrected before the acceptance. They are listed below.
1. In this paper measure the absorption and reduced scattering coefficients of
stomach tissues using the reflectance spectroscopy in the wavelength range
from 635 to 980 nm. Results of these measurements are presented in figs. 2 and
3. However, the authors not compare the results with similar results obtained by
other authors (for example, Bashkatov A.N., et al. Optical properties of human
stomach mucosa in the spectral range from 400 to 2000 nm: prognosis for
gastroenterology // Medical Laser Application, Vol. 22, P. 95-104, 2007; Holmer
C., et al. Optical properties of adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma of
the gastroesophageal junction // J. Biomed. Opt., Vol. 12, N. 1, 014025, 2007;
etc). Thus, comparison between results presented in the reviewed paper and
obtained other authors should be performed.
2. In last paragraph of Section "Discussion" the authors write: "Fig. 6 shows that
the diffuse reflectance for tissue samples are 0.456 mm-1 at 635 nm and drops
to 0.425 mm-1 at 730 nm…". However, it is well known, that reflectance is
dimensionless parameter, and, so, not clear how the reflectance coefficient was
measured in units of inverse millimeters.
3. In Section "Materials and Methods" (Subsection "Theory") after Eq. 7 authors
write: "with m's the reduced scattering coefficient, i.e. m's (1-g)…" The "m's (1-g)"
should be changed to ms (1-g)
4. Ref. 19: "J. Swartling, J.S. Dam, and S. Andersson-Engels, "Comparison of
spatially and temporally resolved diffuse-reflectance measurement systems for
determination of biomedical properties," Appl. Opt., vol. 42, pp. 4612-4620,
2003." should be changed by "J. Swartling, J.S. Dam, and S. Andersson-Engels,
"Comparison of spatially and temporally resolved diffuse-reflectance
measurement systems for determination of biomedical optical properties," Appl.
Opt., vol. 42, pp. 4612-4620, 2003."
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-64 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Using an oblique incident laser beam to measure the optical properties of
stomach mucosa/submucosa tissue
Version: 1Date:18 June 2008
Reviewer: Gregory M. Palmer
Reviewer's report:
Major Concerns:
1. The differences in the optical properties of healthy and diseased tissues are of
major implication to the detection and treatment of cancers. Here the authors
present data on the absorption coefficient, reduced scattering coefficient, optical
penetration depth, diffusion coefficient, diffuse reflectance, and shifts in diffuse
reflectance in normal tissue under illumination from five different monochromatic
sources. However, the authors do not examine the optical properties of diseased
tissue. Insight into how these optical properties change with disease progression
would be invaluable to the advancement of optical detection and treatment
techniques. Lacking these data, the determination of the optical properties of
normal tissue alone is of limited value. In addition, freezing and thawing tissue
causes significant changes in the optical properties, so it is likely that the
reported values are not reflective of those found in vivo.
2. There is insufficient information on how the optical properties of the tissue
were derived. The authors describe the experimental setup, and present a
number of equations, but it is not straightforward how images collected from the
CCD were used to derive optical properties.
3. The discussion section merely describes the data already presented in the
figures. The statistics that the authors chose to present (such as the minimum
and maximum difference between an optical parameter at different wavelengths)
are not particularly meaningful. The authors also repeat the same five sentences
when presenting results for the various parameters, simply changing the
numerical values where necessary. This makes the results section long and
difficult to read, and leaves the reader with the sense that the authors are
padding their results for lack of relevant data.
4. The conclusion section is merely a rewording of the same data presented in
the discussion section. The authors make no attempt to explain the derived data,
and do not address its significance.
Level of interest: An article of limited interest
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-64 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Using an oblique incident laser beam to measure the optical properties of
stomach mucosa/submucosa tissue
Version: 4Date:12 December 2008
Reviewer: Landulfo Silveira Jr.
Reviewer's report:
Major Compulsory Revisions
It is still found too long paragraphs, for example, the first paragraph at
Introduction could be divided into at least two paragraphs, with the second
paragraph starting at line 11, because authors are telling different things from this
point to the next paragraph. The Discussion has a paragraph with more than 50
lines!
Some general language and format problems can be fixed with a careful reading
by the group’s most expertise English speaker or an English teacher.
To clarify how the delta_x was measured, once it is the basis of the paper, I
recommend to put a diagram or a real CCD image, delimitating the laser beam
circle and the scattered light circle and indicating the delta_x.
Is is still confusing how the delta_x was fitted to the equation, since the output
parameters, such as the mi_a and mi_s’ are all extracted using just one variable,
the delta_x. Our group have already tried to measure such parameters using the
scattered light and we found that the least square fitting is dependent on the
initial guess and other constrains, and authors did not mentioned these initial
conditions or constrains to avoid mistakes in the fitting.
As pointed out by another reviewer, the discussion is still repetitive. Some
phrases indicated the simple presentation of results. The word “obvious” is still
appearing in the Discussion.
In general, the authors provided a little improvement in the text, and the English
and grammar is still a problem.
Minor Essential Revisions
In the Introduction, first paragraph, there are many “and” separating studies and
references, just one “and” should be placed at the last citation.
Authors included a table to indicate the lasers used, but are still repeating all of
them in the text. They need to reduce the text since the table intended to
substitute the text.
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-64 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Using an oblique incident laser beam to measure the optical properties of
stomach mucosa/submucosa tissue
Version: 4Date:16 December 2008
Reviewer: Alexey N Bashkatov
Reviewer's report:
In this paper the authors investigated the optical properties of stomach tissues.
The study is interesting and important for tissue optics, and the data presented in
the paper can be used for many medical applications. Therefore, the paper of
Wei et al. is important and relevant and so the paper may be accepted to
publishing in BMC Gastroenterology. However, some remarks should be taken
into account before the acceptance. They are listed below.
1. In the Section "Sample preparation" of this paper, the authors write that tissue
samples were "stored in a refrigerator at -70°C before measurement". However,
the authors not discuss the storage method from point of view of validity of the
tissue optical properties. At the same time the both freezing and thawing cause
significant changes in tissue optical properties and, so, the discussion has to be
added.
2. It is not clear how the images from the CCD were converted to the tissue
optical properties. The procedure has to be presented.
3. The discussion section merely describes the data presented in the figures. The
authors also repeat the same few sentences when they present results for the
various parameters, simply changing the numerical values where necessary.
This makes the section long and difficult to read. Thus, this section cannot be
accepted as discussion.
4. The language of the paper should be improved, for there are some
imperfections concerning grammar and style.
Level of interest: An article of limited interest
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
Statistical review: Yes, but I do not feel adequately qualified to assess the
statistics.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-64 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Using an oblique incident laser beam to measure the optical properties of
stomach mucosa/submucosa tissue
Version: 6Date:4 March 2009
Reviewer: Alexey N Bashkatov
Reviewer's report:
In this paper the authors investigated the optical properties of stomach tissues.
The study is interesting and important for tissue optics, and the data presented in
the paper can be used for many medical applications. In the edition of the paper
the authors significantly improved the paper and, thus, the paper of Wei et al. can
be accepted to publishing in BMC Gastroenterology.
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-63 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Nationwide Epidemiological Study of Severe Gallstone Disease in Taiwan
Version: 1Date:23 March 2009
Reviewer: Wolfgang Kratzer
Reviewer's report:
1. Is the question posed by the authors well defined?
The issue on the incidence of biliary complications in symptomatic
cholecystolithiasis addressed by Huang et al. is of high importance in today’s
health care policy, primarily in regards to increasing hypercaloric nutrition and
obesity.
2. Are the methods appropriate and well described?
The data analysis conducted by the authors and the management of data are
adequate and described in detail.
3. Are the data sound?
The data are sound.
4. Does the manuscript adhere to the relevant standards for reporting and data
deposition?
The study presented by the authors complies with international standards and
the data evaluation is well comprehensible.
5. Are the discussion and conclusions well balanced and adequately supported
by the data?
The conclusions drawn by the authors are consistent with the results described
and show an increase of complicated gall stone diseases particularly in the
younger age groups.
6. Are limitations of the work clearly stated?
The limitations addressed by the authors themselves describe the problems of
the study satisfactorily and explicitly point out the questions that could not be
answered, such as the localisation and the composition of the gall stones.
7. Do the authors clearly acknowledge any work upon which they are building,
both published and unpublished?
Yes
8. Do the title and abstract accurately convey what has been found?
The title of the study as well as the abstract reflect the most important aspects
that were obtained during the study.
9. Is the writing acceptable? Yes
Please make your review as constructive and detailed as possible in your
comments so that authors have the opportunity to overcome any serious
deficiencies that you find and please also divide your comments into the following
categories:
• Minor Essential Revisions (such as missing labels on figures, or the wrong use
of a term, which the author can be trusted to correct)
After minor but necessary revisions have been made the study can be accepted
for publication.
In detail the following revisions should be made:
Fig.3 The caption must be altered and the results for both men and women
should be easily recognizable.
Discussion:
The first paragraph of the discussion should be deleted as it once again includes
a repetition of the most important results.
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: Yes, but I do not feel adequately qualified to assess the
statistics.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-63 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Nationwide Epidemiological Study of Severe Gallstone Disease in Taiwan
Version: 1Date:19 April 2009
Reviewer: Monica Acalovschi
Reviewer's report:
The manuscript presents a large epidemiological study on gallstone disease in
Taiwan, focusing the severe disease (complicated and requiring emergency
therapy).
It is an interesting study on a 9-year period including 155,322 cases. The
conclusion is that there was an increase in hospital admission rate for severe
gallstone disease in younger patients, and of pancreatitis and cholangitis in
patients older than 60 years.
Comments
The study was well conducted and is welcome due to the scarcity of the data
regarding this aspect of gallstone disease. The authors correctly identify the
limits of their study, especially the possibility to include under the code of acute
cholecystitis patients presenting with biliary colic, which means symptomatic
lithiasis but not necessarily complicated.
The causes of this increase in incidence of severe cases are being analyzed. It
seems to be related in part to the increased adressability of the patients to
hospitals after changing the insurance system in the country. It would be
interesting to know whether the increase in severity paralleled an increased
incidence of gallstones in this population? There are published studies showing
an increasing incidence of gallstone diseases in 10-years intervals.
Regarding the higher rate of acute cholecystitis in men, this can not be entirely
explained by the lower rate of elective cholecytsectomy rates in men versus
women, because the change in cholecystectomy rates were almost parallel in
both genders during the period studied (Fig.3).
Regarding the increased incidence of complications in those aged > 60 years, is
this not related to an increased segment of the population in this age-group in
this period? It would be interesting to know if the mean age of the patients with
complications after 60 years increased in this period.
Minor comments
Introduction: reference 6 is cited without mentioning the country where these
figures were published.
Approval of the Study by the Ethics Committee should be mentioned in Methods.
English language revision is necessary.
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare I have no competing interests.
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-61 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth mimicking acute flare as a pitfall in
patients with Crohn's Disease
Version: 1Date:11 March 2009
Reviewer: Mark Pimentel
Reviewer's report:
In this manuscript entitled "Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth mimcking acute
flare as a pitfall in patients with Crohn's dieseae", the authors describe that in
some circumstances, symptoms in Crohns may be related to bacterial
overgrowth as opposed to a flare of Crohns. This is a very important paper and is
well written.
The only major concern that I feel has not been adequately addressed is the
relationship between the abnormal breath test and the issue of intestinal
resection. The authors state that resection was a predictor of positive test. Is this
because resection leads to lack of ileocecal valve and overgrowth or is it due to
rapid transit from the resection and not overgrowth at all. I think this should at
least be discussed.
Did the authors exclude patients with adhesions or bowel obstruction? This could
also lead to mechanical issues leading to bacterial overgrowth.
In the results section (page 7) there is an extensive defense for using the glucose
breath test. This is too long. If the authors want to defend the use of glucose
breath test, they should do so in the discussion section of the paper. This is not
appropriate for the methods.
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-61 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth mimicking acute flare as a pitfall in
patients with Crohn's Disease
Version: 1Date:15 March 2009
Reviewer: Christel Neut
Reviewer's report:
This is an interesting clinical paper on SIBO in CD patients. This complication is
underdiagnosized in CD but can have important clinical consequences.It can be
favored by surgery. Suppression of the ileocecal valve can fovor entrance of
colonic bacteria in the small bowel.
1-Minor essential revisions
The title should be changed and indicate that SIBO is a complication of CD
associated to flare up of disease. In patients with a high CDAI it seems difficult to
consider SIBO as a secondary event.
2-Minor essential revisions
The introduction should clearly state that the method used id indirect and will only
detect hydrogen produced by some (not all) anaerobic bacteria. SIBO is possible
without hydrogen formation.Glucose is used as external substrate for these
bacteria. Lactulose woul be a better substrate because not resorbed by the small
intestine and only used by bacteria. In SIBO, lactulose can be used as a
substrate. In absence of SIBO, it is used to establish orocecal transit time.
3-Minor essential revisions
The used HGBT method should be justified in the introduction section and not in
the methodology section (page 7 and 8).
4-Minor essential revisions
Antibiotherapy is evoked in the introduction and discussion but not used for the
studied population. It should be discussed that an antibiotic treatment will not
show a long-lasting effect because the anatomic disorders remain present and
will allow recurrence.
5-Minor essential revisions
The references cited need revisions to use always the same type of citations.
Names of journals are sometimes complete and sometimes shortened. Ref 4
"Auflage" should be changed to "edition"
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Needs some language corrections before being
published
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-60 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Physical Activity and Diet Behaviour in Colorectal Cancer Patients
Receiving Chemotherapy: Associations with Quality of Life
Version: 1Date:8 July 2009
Reviewer: anna hawkes
Reviewer's report:
Minor essential revisions include:
1. The question is well defined by the authors.
2. The methods are appropriate and well described, however the study is limited
by the small convenience sample and is underpowered to detect significant
associations between lifestyle behaviours and quality of life. This is a major
limitation of this study.
3. The study included an impressive 96% consent rate, which one would assume
was due to on-site recruitment and the medical oncologist endorsing participation
in the study. However, the response rate did then drop to 62%.
• The outcome measures chosen are valid and reliable in this population.
• The statistical analyses appear appropriate, although one might expect the
lifestyle behavioural data to be skewed? There is no mention of testing for this?
• There is no mention of investigating socio-demographics or other available data
for non-participants.
4. The authors refer to a wide range of literature, however they do not refer to
two Australian studies that are relevant to this manuscript.
• Hawkes A L, Lynch B M, Youlden D R, Owen N, Aitken J F. Health behaviors of
Australian colorectal cancer survivors, compared with noncancer population
controls. Supportive Care in Cancer. 2008; :1-8.
• http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/7/154
5. In general the writing is acceptable, although there are a number of
recommended corrections:
• Abstract
o 58% is only approximately half, not ‘over half’.
o Suggest refer to dietary guidelines rather than ‘diet guidelines’
o Author refers to ‘were physically active at some level’ but it is unclear what this
means. Suggest author refers to sedentary or not.
o Author refers to exercise and physical activity throughout the manuscript.
Suggest they refer to physical activity alone if that is what was measured.
• Page 5
o Refer to Hawkes et al. 2008 in paragraph 2.
• Discussion
o Refer to Spence et al for future interventional research.
Level of interest: An article of importance in its field
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-60 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Physical Activity and Diet Behaviour in Colorectal Cancer Patients
Receiving Chemotherapy: Associations with Quality of Life
Version: 2Date:13 July 2009
Reviewer: anna hawkes
Reviewer's report:
The authors have responded to the reviewers comments and suggestions
sufficiently and, if the editors agree, I believe this manuscript is suitable for
publication.
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests
Review for 10.1186/1471-230X-9-60 (2009)

Reviewer's report
Title:Physical Activity and Diet Behaviour in Colorectal Cancer Patients
Receiving Chemotherapy: Associations with Quality of Life
Version: 2Date:17 July 2009
Reviewer: Kristina H Karvinen
Reviewer's report:
The authors have done a great job revising the manuscript.
Discretionary Revisions:
1) Page 7, second paragraph: "leisure score index" should have the first letters
capitalized.
Level of interest: An article whose findings are important to those with closely
related research interests
Quality of written English: Acceptable
Statistical review: No, the manuscript does not need to be seen by a
statistician.
Declaration of competing interests:
I declare that I have no competing interests.