JerMa88/BMC_Gastroenterology_Peer_Reviews huggingface dataset:
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03392-8 (2024)

Title: Association between plant-based dietary index and disease severity in patients with
ulcerative colitis: A cross-sectional study
Version: 0 Date: 22 Apr 2024
Reviewer's report:
In this cross-sectional study, the authors investigated the association between the disease severity
evaluated by the total Mayo score and overall, healthy and unhealthy plant-based dietary indices
(PDIs) in 157 ulcerative colitis patients and reported negative association between the disease
severity and overall PDI but not with hPDI and uPDI. I praise their experiment. However, more
data is needed to draw any conclusion about the effect of plant-based diet on UC disease activity.
About the evaluation the Mayo score, it should be clearly described at what point in the past
it was stipulated that findings from colonoscopy performed in each patient be adopted. Was
the colonoscopy performed only for this investigation, or in their day-to-day practice such as
surveillance?
About the evaluation of dietary factors, did only one expert nutritionist evaluate all these
157 UC patients through face-to-face interviews? Was this evaluation performed only for this
investigation or along with day-to-day diet counselling?
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03392-8 (2024)

Title: Association between plant-based dietary index and disease severity in patients with
ulcerative colitis: A cross-sectional study
Version: 1 Date: 02 Jul 2024
Reviewer's report:
1 The number of included cases is too small, which affects the analysis results
2 Most studies classify  individual plant-based dietary index (PDI)  into four categories (in
quintiles), why did you use three categories (in tertiles)?
3 The extent of disease in UC was defined according to the Montreal classification as E1:
proctitis (proximal extent to the sigmoid colon), E2: left-sided (to the splenic flexure) or E3:
extensive disease (beyond the splenic flexure). You were still using the old classification
standards. Furthermore,UC patients treated with biological agents were excluded?
4 Result is too simple,subgroup analysis is required.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03392-8 (2024)

Title: Association between plant-based dietary index and disease severity in patients with
ulcerative colitis: A cross-sectional study
Version: 1 Date: 03 Jul 2024
Reviewer's report:
Let me thank authors for responding to the questions raised in the previous review.
I think the degree of confidence in the data obtained has now become clearer.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03392-8 (2024)

Title: Association between plant-based dietary index and disease severity in patients with
ulcerative colitis: A cross-sectional study
Version: 3 Date: 13 Jul 2024
Reviewer's report:
I have reviewed the authors’ revised manuscript and their responses to the other reviewers. The
method and conclusion of this study are relatively simple, but comply with publication standards,
and I agree to publish it.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03392-8 (2024)

Title: Association between plant-based dietary index and disease severity in patients with
ulcerative colitis: A cross-sectional study
Version: 3 Date: 17 Jul 2024
Reviewer's report:
I thank for the authors for their investigation to examine the association between the plant foods
intake and disease activity in UC patients. Despite possible bias that extensively  discussed in the
manuscript, I think this investigation would encourage us to investigate further this association
in the next study .
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03428-z (2024)

Title: IS CHEMODENERVATION WITH INCOBOTULINUMTOXINA AN
ALTERNATIVE TO INVASIVE CHRONIC ANAL FISSURE TREATMENTS?
Version: 2 Date: 04 Jun 2024
Reviewer:  Mohamed Farid
Reviewer's report:
dear author
your study which started early in 2017 was based on an old version of Clinical Practice Guideline
for the Management of Anal Fissures FROM the Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee of the
American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons, also in2017.
[which stated that Botulinum toxin has similar results compared with topical therapies as first-
line therapy for chronic anal fissures, and modest improvement in healing rates as second-
line therapy following treatment with topical therapies]. Grade of Recommendation: Strong
recommendation BASED on low- and very-low-quality evidence, 1C.
Unfortunately. these guidelines have been updated recently with Grade of recommendation:
strong recommendation BASED on moderate-quality evidence, 1B.
On the basis of multiple prospective randomized clinical trials and meta-analyses, with the
limitation of significant heterogeneity between studies, the available evidence supports a grade
1B
So, this prospective single centre study with only 31 patients completed the follow up period is
not adding benefit to the current updated guidelines
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03428-z (2024)

Title: IS CHEMODENERVATION WITH INCOBOTULINUMTOXINA AN
ALTERNATIVE TO INVASIVE CHRONIC ANAL FISSURE TREATMENTS?
Version: 2 Date: 05 Jun 2024
Reviewer:  Wilhelm Graf
Reviewer's report:
Thanks for the opportunity to review the manuscript ” IS NEUROMODULATION WITH
INCOBOTULINUMTOXINA AN ALTERNATIVE TO SPHINCTEROTOMY?” which is a
monocenter study analyzing outcomes after Botox type A for treatments of anal fissures.. My
comments are listed below:
1. I recommend the authors to avoid the term neuromodulation in the title and in the paper.
Neuromodulation is mainly used for electrical modulation of nerves and the term is closely
connected with sacral neuromodulation for fecal incontinence and related applications.
2. Please also avoid the term “anal laterals”. The location could be described as lateral and
posterior.
3. Myastenia gravis is misspelled.
4. In the overview of treatment options in the introduction, the surgical alternatives should be
briefly mentioned.
5. Squeeze pressure is described as reflecting IAS function which is not true. Please amend!
6. In assessment of safety – did you follow any established grading system?
7. Could the manometry assessment be more clearly described or referenced?
8. I assume that a non parametric test is better suited for scale values such as Wexner score etc?
9. The judgement of healing could be more clearly described, i.e. were the assessment of the
fissure based on examination under anesthesia or without. How was it performed?
10. Please define “psychiatric disorder”.
11. Maybe logistic regression is meaningless because of the limited numbers. Proportions are
better.
12. Did you include patients with IBD or did they fall under the exclusion criteria “ non
idiopathic”?
13. Finally, I believe the authors should acknowledge and further stress that the efficacy must
be interpreted in light of the abscence of a control group and that the placebo effect might affect
results.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03428-z (2024)

Title: IS CHEMODENERVATION WITH INCOBOTULINUMTOXINA AN
ALTERNATIVE TO INVASIVE CHRONIC ANAL FISSURE TREATMENTS?
Version: 3 Date: 12 Jul 2024
Reviewer:  Wilhelm Graf
Reviewer's report:
Thanks for the answers and changes in the article. I recommend to add a description of the
method used for anal manometry, eg transducermediated, water perfused, system, balloon etc.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03428-z (2024)

Title: IS CHEMODENERVATION WITH INCOBOTULINUMTOXINA AN
ALTERNATIVE TO INVASIVE CHRONIC ANAL FISSURE TREATMENTS?
Version: 3 Date: 14 Jul 2024
Reviewer:  Michele Schiano di Visconte
Reviewer's report:
Thank you for the opportunity to review this study on a very important topic.
The Authors state that treatment with botulinum toxin type A is strongly recommended for
the treatment of anal fissure: the analysis of the Literature does not confirm their statement.
“Botulinum toxin has similar results compared with topical therapies as first-line therapy for
chronic anal fissures and modest improvement in healing rates as second-line therapy following
failed treatment with topical therapies. The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons
Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management of Anal Fissures. Dis Colon Rectum 2022; 66:
190–199".   The Authors add the reference to their statement.
The authors report a cure rate of 83.9%. I congratulate you on the high recovery rate.
The selection criteria should be better specified.  The authors should explain the mechanism
of action of botulinum toxin. The authors should specify how many days after the end of the
GNT or   calcium channel blockers  they performed the botulinum toxin injection. The Authors
should specify the classification of the anal fissure and what type of anal fissure is being treated.
There is some confusion among the reported data. The 2-year cure rate should be evaluated on
the entire cohort of patients who have completed treatment.
The authors report the reduction in anal resting pressure after the treatment. It would be
interesting to know the starting values to evaluate the possible appearance of fecal incontinence.
The Authors indicate that 7 patients reported mild incontinence. Authors should specify the
Wexner index before and after the study
I believe the study has many methodological errors and the Study design section should be
rewritten
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03428-z (2024)

Title: IS CHEMODENERVATION WITH INCOBOTULINUMTOXINA AN
ALTERNATIVE TO INVASIVE CHRONIC ANAL FISSURE TREATMENTS?
Version: 3 Date: 17 Jul 2024
Reviewer's report:
Thank you for your nice manuscript. The technique is simple and easy to be published.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03428-z (2024)

Title: IS CHEMODENERVATION WITH INCOBOTULINUMTOXINA AN
ALTERNATIVE TO INVASIVE CHRONIC ANAL FISSURE TREATMENTS?
Version: 3 Date: 19 Jul 2024
Reviewer:  Michael Roblick
Reviewer's report:
Reviewer 3:
Personal Impact of this Article:
I personally wouldn´t change my current procedure for the cure of anal fissures.
Without a consistent, parallel improvement in stool consistency, there will be no long-term and
persistent healing, either after botox injection or surgery.
Further points:
small patient cohort
Different application quantities within the small group
In the article, stool consistency is identified as the initial triggering problem, but  it is not
consistently treated.
BT is neither in the USA nor in Germany. Appendix-Ostium first-line treatment
Lateral sphincterotomy is, due to high incontinence rates, in most European states no first-line
surgical treatment.
Possibility of fissurectomy after Gabriel (the highest number of surgical interventions for AF in
Germany) not even mentioned, good method, very little incontinence
What was the purpose of different quantities of BT (medical)?
Did the author continue with parallel conservative treatments during the investigation?
Page 7/Page 10: "Patients with both nitrates and Divertikel CCB presented headaches.“ Why
did they receive both medications? Only the nitrates are responsible for the headaches. CCB on
its own is quite often enough to cure the patient.
Manometry is an  good tool to measure the reducing or increasing pressure of the anal channel.
It is not good at measuring absolute numbers. The same anal manometry performed only half
an hour later will lead the same patient to different measurements.
Page 11.: „Sentinel hemorrhoid“ is the wrong description of the hypertrophe papilla, which
has anatomically nothing in common with a hemorroidal cushion. Using this term can lead to
misunderstandings.
All in all, the healing rate is a little over 50% after 3 years after the use of Botox. Botox, by the
way, is expansive. 50 units of Botox in Germany cost between 270 and 300 Euros. This should
be mentioned in an article concerning Botox.
I myself use Botox sometimes, in certain patients it is auseful therapy. But BT is not an
established therapy in Germany for the anal fissure; it needs prior to application the personal
signature of the doctor, and the procedure needs extra documentation of the use of Botox in
an area of therapy that is not officially approved by German health insurances. (F.i. overactive
bladder, therapy with Botox is no problem).
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03428-z (2024)

Title: IS CHEMODENERVATION WITH INCOBOTULINUMTOXINA AN
ALTERNATIVE TO INVASIVE CHRONIC ANAL FISSURE TREATMENTS?
Version: 4 Date: 10 Aug 2024
Reviewer's report:
Dear Authors,
I think that this modified version could be more interesting than the previous one.
Congratulation!
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03428-z (2024)

Title: IS CHEMODENERVATION WITH INCOBOTULINUMTOXINA AN
ALTERNATIVE TO INVASIVE CHRONIC ANAL FISSURE TREATMENTS?
Version: 4 Date: 11 Aug 2024
Reviewer's report:
There is a some items to be cleared in this paper
1- What is the sample size and how you calculate it?
2- of course the men will not improved by this injection because of already hypertensive anal
canal
3- if you advise the patient to re- inject in recurring cases
4- define what is the difference between recurrent and failure of treatment
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03428-z (2024)

Title: IS CHEMODENERVATION WITH INCOBOTULINUMTOXINA AN
ALTERNATIVE TO INVASIVE CHRONIC ANAL FISSURE TREATMENTS?
Version: 4 Date: 18 Aug 2024
Reviewer:  Michele Schiano di Visconte
Reviewer's report:
The authors conducted insufficient review. One of the most important methodological errors is
not having identified the anal fissure according to Kennedy's classification (Kennedy ML, DCR
1992). This does not allow us to evaluate whether the withholding is effective. I don't think
a fourth degree fissure will heal with this treatment. The authors should therefore divide the
patients according to the severity of the clinical picture and then evaluate the results
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03428-z (2024)

Title: IS CHEMODENERVATION WITH INCOBOTULINUMTOXINA AN
ALTERNATIVE TO INVASIVE CHRONIC ANAL FISSURE TREATMENTS?
Version: 5 Date: 29 Aug 2024
Reviewer's report:
Dear authors,
I would like to congratulate you on the efforts made to improve the manuscript. Good job!
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03428-z (2024)

Title: IS CHEMODENERVATION WITH INCOBOTULINUMTOXINA AN
ALTERNATIVE TO INVASIVE CHRONIC ANAL FISSURE TREATMENTS?
Version: 5 Date: 31 Aug 2024
Reviewer:  Michele Schiano di Visconte
Reviewer's report:
I confirm that this study does not allow us to reach any conclusions considering the heterogeneity
of the sample
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03428-z (2024)

Title: IS CHEMODENERVATION WITH INCOBOTULINUMTOXINA AN
ALTERNATIVE TO INVASIVE CHRONIC ANAL FISSURE TREATMENTS?
Version: 6 Date: 04 Sep 2024
Reviewer:  Michele Schiano di Visconte
Reviewer's report:
I agree with what is reported in the response from the Authors. I believe that before being
accepted for publication the Authors should conclude by clearly stating that their study does
not allow reaching any conclusions regarding the efficacy of botulinum toxin and that further
studies on homogeneous samples would be necessary
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03428-z (2024)

Title: IS CHEMODENERVATION WITH INCOBOTULINUMTOXINA AN
ALTERNATIVE TO INVASIVE CHRONIC ANAL FISSURE TREATMENTS?
Version: 6 Date: 04 Sep 2024
Reviewer's report:
Dear authors,
I think that your revision could be suitable for this journal in this form. Congratulations
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03428-z (2024)

Title: IS CHEMODENERVATION WITH INCOBOTULINUMTOXINA AN
ALTERNATIVE TO INVASIVE CHRONIC ANAL FISSURE TREATMENTS?
Version: 8 Date: 12 Sep 2024
Reviewer:  Michele Schiano di Visconte
Reviewer's report:
The authors have conducted a sufficient review
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03402-9 (2024)

Title: Long-term antibody response after the third dose of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine
in MASLD patients
Version: 4 Date: 16 Jul 2024
Reviewer's report:
The authors present an interesting manuscript addressing long-term response to inactivated anti-
SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. The manuscript is well written but needs a few corrections in my opinion.
1. In all sections NAFLD should be substituted with MASLD
2. In introduction section, MASLD prevalnce has, unfortunately, risen to more than 30%;
this percentage should substitute the 25% found in the manuscript (ref:   doi: 10.1016/
S2468-1253(22)00165-0; doi:10.3350/cmh.2022.0365). Moreover, in introduction section,
page 60 the following references should be added: doi: 10.15403/jgld-5268; doi: 10.4254/
wjh.v16.i6.912)
3. In materials and methods section, were patients with inflammatory bowel disease excluded
even if not under immunosupressants? If so, this should be explained, otherwise it should not
stand as a different exclusion criterion. Moreover, in exclusion criteria, 'other significant disease'
is found. This should be better explained
4. In table 1, 24 patients with MASLD had DM and 2 without MASLD, however the number
in the whole population is 25. This should be fixed
5. In results section, no reference regarding patients with liver cirrhosis is found. Where they
excluded? If not, their number should be stated, since patients with cirrhosis are known to hypo-
respond to inactivated vaccines (ref: doi: 10.1016/j.jceh.2021.12.003; doi: 10.1086/315245; doi:
10.1155/2013/196704 among others)
6. In discussion section, the authors should compare their findings both to studies of patients
with chronic liver disease and 2 vaccines (ref: doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2021.12.022;  doi: 10.1007/
s12072-023-10598-7,doi: 10.3390/vaccines11020452) as well as  those with 3 vaccines (ref:
doi: 10.1016/j.jfma.2024.06.015; doi: 10.1016/j.clinre.2023.102150) and address differences in
results.
7. In limitations section, it should be added that COVID-19 was solely based upon patients'
reports and no other means
8. It would be interesting to know if any of the patients suffered from COVID-19 during the 6
months post-vaccination. Do the authors have such data?
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03402-9 (2024)

Title: Long-term antibody response after the third dose of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine
in MASLD patients
Version: 5 Date: 10 Aug 2024
Reviewer's report:
The authors have now provided adequate information to make the manuscript easy to understand.
Moreover, they have greatly improved both materials and methods, as well as discussion
sections. I think the manuscript is now fit for publication
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03402-9 (2024)

Title: Long-term antibody response after the third dose of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine
in MASLD patients
Version: 5 Date: 19 Aug 2024
Reviewer's report:
Dear Editor,
Dear Authors,
I have read the manuscript "Long-term antibody response after the third dose of inactivated
SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in MASLD patients" with great interest and pleasure. The authors have
provided results which show that not only MASLD, but also its severity impacts host's immune
response to inactivated vaccines. I believe the manuscript is well written and suitable for
publication. However,  it requiers only a few minor revisions in my opinion.
1. Line 66: please replace "are" with " were".
2. Line 81: no need for hyphen in "was-indeed".
3. Figure 1: please remove the bracket „(„ in front of n=677.
4. Lines 110-118: even though the statement is correct, I believe that the following reference
for the same statement would be more suitable than the one listed in the reference section (doi:
10.3748/wjg.v25.i40.6053).
5. Table 1: the abbreviation ALD is stated under Table 1, however, no such abbreviation has
been used in the Table itself. Please remove the abbreviation.
6. Line 173: please add point „.“ after vs.
Kind regards
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03402-9 (2024)

Title: Long-term antibody response after the third dose of the inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine
in MASLD patients
Version: 6 Date: 02 Sep 2024
Reviewer's report:
Dear Editors,
Dear Authors,
The authors have provided adequate changes in order to make complex methodology and
extensive results easy to follow.  All the minor suggestions have been taken into account. As I
have stated previously, I believe the manuscript is suitable for publication.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03389-3 (2024)

Title: Development and application of an artificial intelligence-assisted endoscopy system for
diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection: a multicenter randomized controlled study
Version: 1 Date: 01 Apr 2024
Reviewer:  Stephen Lanspa
Reviewer's report:
Well written report concerning an important public health problem.
1.  The gold standard was completion of two or more diagnostic tests (UBT, RUT, H. pylori
culture, H. pylori histology) with consistent results. The authors express the benefits of “realtime
diagnosis” of Hp, but it may be helpful to add a paragraph further defending this (cost,
convenience, in the future might confirmation tests be eliminated?). Why is an immediate result
needed?
2. In describing the CNN it may be helpful to add demonstrative pictures of gastric mucosa.
Convince skeptics that AI is additive.
3.  The authors address the problem of prior treatment for H. pylori.  Would it be acceptable to
speculate how this might be addressed in future studies or population screening?
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03389-3 (2024)

Title: Development and application of an artificial intelligence-assisted endoscopy system for
diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection: a multicenter randomized controlled study
Version: 1 Date: 03 Apr 2024
Reviewer:  Tahne Vongsavath
Reviewer's report:
Abstract:
-please add associated abbreviation to complete phrase Helicobacter pylori (H. Pylori)
- "good diagnositic ability" consider rewording. "significant ability for diagnostic use" or
something of the like
Intro
-"Gastric mucosa that is positive for H. pylori typically has diffuse redness, spotty redness"
consider combining redness characteristics "diffuse or spotty redness"
-"Gastric mucosa that is negative for H. pylori typically has a RAC, and may have fundic
gland polyposis, a red streak in the gastric antrum and gastric body, and attachment of a former
bleeding spot" Is this accurate?
-red areas of various sizes on white mucosa, and redness after erosion healing appears as patchy
redness. sentence feels redundant
Training algorhythm
-When SENet was proposed, it achieved the highest accuracy on Imagenet data at that time. is
there a value for accuracy?
-please add section data for estimation of sample size (2.7a) and analysis of outcome (2.7b) or
something similar
Discussion:
This may be because in the professional training for early cancer detection, the recognition
of H. pylori status of gastric mucosa using endoscopy is very important for determining the
mucosal background of gastric cancer, so these specially trained endoscopists are familiar with
the manifestations of H. pylori infection and pay close attention to these observations. Consider
rewording for ease of reading
AI system, corresponding to an accuracy of 83.3% and a sensitivity of 100% (data not shown).
why? if not adding data maybe do not need to add data not shown or consider adding to next
sentence, "data was not included in study as it only resulted from 6 patients"
Authors may consider not including the addition of (data not included) in the discussion without
explanation why, or consider excluding the statement all together.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03426-1 (2024)

Title: Accumulation of rare earth elements in human gallstones: a perspective from dietary and
human health
Version: 1 Date: 30 Jun 2024
Reviewer:  Nuria Güil-Oumrait
Reviewer's report:
Dear authors,
This manuscript presents a very interesting study with an innovative research framework. The
rationale behind the study is well argued, and the writing is clear and concise. However, it lacks
an acknowledgment of the study's limitations and future research directions resulting from the
findings.
Some minor comments are specified below:
Abstract:
• Background: Reformulate the main aim of the paper to enhance clarity.
• Limit the use of abbreviations. When abbreviations are used for the first time, provide their
full form (e.g., UCC, LREE, and HREE).
Introduction:
• Line 45: Briefly mention the chemical properties or provide examples that differentiate LREE,
MREE, and HREE.
• Line 61: Clarify if you mean "more than 60% of biliary tract cancer patients."
• Line 80: Correct "countries”.
Discussion / Conclusions:
• Please add a section discussing the study's limitations and suggest directions for future research.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03426-1 (2024)

Title: Accumulation of rare earth elements in human gallstones: a perspective from dietary and
human health
Version: 1 Date: 25 Aug 2024
Reviewer's report:
Comments
The manuscript is of good quality, timely, and highlights an important research study about
REES in gallstone. There are only minor issues with grammar (see track changes file of MS
Word) that have been highlighted in the manuscript and are given below for guidance to the
authors. In-depth analysis of the collected data and evidence-based reasoning are lacking a bit in
this study.  In places, though,  facts borrowed from other authors’ works have been cited instead
of reaching conclusions based on the in-depth analysis of the data collected in this study.
-Line 80: Is it “Countries”?
-Line 104: If it is total digestion (no residue, and clear liquied at the end), provide the appropriate
source (citation/reference) that the method chosen is established in terms of material digestion.
-Line 115: Please provide details of Quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) as a table
about detection limit, accuracy, precision, etc. to validate your results because it is a health-
related data reporting.
-Line 119: Please provide a source on the validation of the equation of BMI.
-Line 145: This info along with the size and shape of the Gallstone probably belongs to the
“Sampling” section of the manuscript.
-Line 146: Please provide a table about the collected samples (e.g., size, weight, color, shape, etc)
-Line 148: Please provide the percentage sampled population here rather than ‘… most were …”.
-Line 149: If possible tabulae the data as part of supplementary material about the sampled
patients' characteristics as it may have a significant relation to the REEs enrichment or depletion.
-Line 154: What could be the possible reasons for lower values?
-Line 157: Interesting scientific observation. What could be the reason?
-Line 168: The first four sentences of the discussion section are presented as findings of other
works. Please engage in your opinion based on an analysis of your data and then cite the source
of others' works to agree or disagree.
-Line 22: Sorry but too often there is use of the word ‘obvious’ in the manuscript. Try to change
it for better readability.
-Line 318: Is it “coulping”?
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03433-2 (2024)

Title: Deep pelvis and low visceral fat mass as risk factors for neurogenic bladder after rectal
cancer surgery
Version: 1 Date: 25 Aug 2024
Reviewer:  Audrius Dulskas
Reviewer's report:
Dear authors,
Thank you for the nice study. I have few comments
ABSTRACT
--BMI should be explained when used for the first time
INTRODUCTION
--too short. Needs to explain the issues more. It is known some risk factors, why do we need
another study?
METHODS
--do you really use this rectal classification into three levels?
--did you have the IRB approval?
--Flow chart diagram of included/excluded patients should be inserted
--What were inclusion/exclusion criteria?
--what were the diagnostic criteria of PONB?
--what is visceral obesity? what is the definition? Do you have different classification of obesity
than in the west?
RESULTS
--what are the explanations of such a long operative time (>480). Was it minimal invasive
surgery? Do you have any rules when to convert?
--how many obese patients have you had?
DISCUSSION
--what are the recommendations? So what if you the risk factors preoperatively? Will you change
the surgical approach? Any preventive measures?
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03430-5 (2024)

Title: Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of stromal cell derived factor 2 in the
patients with gastric cancer
Version: 2 Date: 20 Aug 2024
Reviewer:  Anwar Ashraf Abouelnasr
Reviewer's report:
Dear Authors, please address the following points below:
-How did you determine the sample size for your study?
-What was the size of the specimen, and did it have an impact on your research?
-Can this study be used to predict recurrence?
-Could you explain the role of the SDF-2 gene in the development and carcinogenesis of gastric
cancer?
-What is the link between the expression of the SDF-2 gene in gastric cancer tissues and the
levels of preoperative peripheral blood CEA and CA19-9? How does this impact prognosis?
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03430-5 (2024)

Title: Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of stromal cell derived factor 2 in the
patients with gastric cancer
Version: 3 Date: 03 Sep 2024
Reviewer's report:
Thank you for providing the additional data.
The new data significantly strengthen the overall argument of the manuscript, but further
investigation is needed to clarify SDF2 protein expression level in GS tissue samples.
You presented two GC tissues in Fig 1E, but are they at the same magnification ?
It seems to me that the magnifications are different, although the scale bars are the same.
There seems to be little difference in SDF2 protein expression between  the right GS sample and
the normal tissue. Could you please show the data from more tissues and provide a statistical
analysis ?
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03430-5 (2024)

Title: Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of stromal cell derived factor 2 in the
patients with gastric cancer
Version: 5 Date: 17 Sep 2024
Reviewer's report:
Thank you for providing additional information.
Please standardize the order of 'normal' and 'tumor' in Fig. 1E and 1F to match the other figures,
with 'normal' coming before 'tumor'.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03430-5 (2024)

Title: Clinicopathological and prognostic significance of stromal cell derived factor 2 in the
patients with gastric cancer
Version: 5 Date: 18 Sep 2024
Reviewer:  Anwar Ashraf Abouelnasr
Reviewer's report:
The authors' response has been reviewed, and the necessary changes have been implemented.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03432-3 (2024)

Title: Association of Life’s Essential 8 with Mortalities in Patients with Alcohol-Related Liver
Disease
Version: 0 Date: 24 Jun 2024
Reviewer's report:
I found Zhang et al’s paper on the Associations between Life’s Essential 8 and the Prognosis of
Alcoholic Liver disease to be very interesting and well written. I found the topic relevant and
the statistical analysis to be robust. I am eager to see how if improving LE8 could improve CV
mortality in this patient population.
I have only a few comments:
1. I recommend the authors update their use of the term “alcoholic” to “alcohol related” or
“alcohol associated.”
2. According to the supplementary information, the ALD patients were included if liver enzymes
were elevated in the setting of significant alcohol intake. Please specify whether other liver
diseases were  excluded in these patients? Also, cirrhosis can occur in the setting of normal liver
enzymes. Were patients with chronic liver disease but normal liver enzymes also included in
the analysis?
3. Because readers may not be familiar with the LE 8 score, I suggest including the exact scoring
system.
I look forward to reading the final version of this interesting paper.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03432-3 (2024)

Title: Association of Life’s Essential 8 with Mortalities in Patients with Alcohol-Related Liver
Disease
Version: 0 Date: 11 Jul 2024
Reviewer:  Yi-Chuan Yu
Reviewer's report:
The authors seek to study the relationships between the LE8 score and the mortality rate of CVD.
I have the following recommendations/comments:
1. If the outcome is the mortality rate of ALD, then the title should reflect such to avoid
confusion. For example, Association between Life’s Essential 8 and all-cause mortality among
Alcoholic Disease Patients.
2. I’m a bit confused about the first sentence in the introduction section. ALD will lead to the
development of liver cancer or liver cirrhosis. Does the author mean that 25% and 30% of liver
cirrhosis and liver cancer deaths are due to ALD?
3. The authors may consider elaborating more on the following statement: “ALD and
cardiovascular diseases share some common risk factors. Meanwhile, previous studies have
mostly focused on individual factors affecting prognosis, neglecting the overall impact of
healthy lifestyles. Therefore, heart protection recommendations represented by the LE8 score
may also be effective in improving the prognosis of ALD. ” Some questions that should be
answered here: (1) what are the relationships between LE8 and CVD? (2) How LE8 can represent
the overall impact of healthy lifestyles? (3) what is the relationship between CVD and ALD?
(4) In which way does WHICH individual factor affect WHAT prognosis?
4. Please include the percentage of exclusion in the figure and the text. In addition, the reasons
for these exclusions should also be discussed briefly in the text.
5. Since LE8 is used as the exposure of interest, a detailed explanation of how LE is derived
should be included in the article.
6. NHANES is not so representative of the US population. To be fully representative, the study
sample is expected to share the same characteristics as the target population, which is a very
difficult thing to do. I recommend the authors remove related statements.
7. How is the follow-up time treated in the Cox model?
8. Please provide a copy of the Schoenfeld residual plot. Besides, the current analysis does not
seem to be commonly used in a cross-sectional study design.
9. How are interaction terms handled in the analysis? Please provide some details in the text.
10.Please include the in-text citation for R.
11. In the limitation section of the study, additional text should be added to explain how these
limitations affect the results. For example, in which direction does recall bias in this study affect
the study results?
12. Some grammar or spelling checks should be done before the submission. For example, it is
“demonstrated” not “demontrated”. There are 2 “the” in the following statement: “The results
of the subgroup analyses in Figure 4 indicated that the the association of LE8 score and all-
cause mortality…”.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03432-3 (2024)

Title: Association of Life’s Essential 8 with Mortalities in Patients with Alcohol-Related Liver
Disease
Version: 0 Date: 15 Jul 2024
Reviewer's report:
Zhang et al. evaluated associations of LE8 with prognosis of ALD. Recent SLD definition
of ALD is based on hepatic steatosis and AC>6 drinks per day for men and >5
drinks per day for women, regardless of the presence of cardiometabolic risk factors.
Please consider modifying the whole manuscript according to the recent definition (https://
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37364790/). Stratifying the LE8 according to the subcategory to
evaluate which component of the LE8 has contributed mostly to mortality would be interesting.
In addition, the word "prognosis" is seems not appropriate in this study. Please consider changing
it to mortality. There are some recent studies that evaluated associations of SLD subtypes,
including ALD, with the risk of CVD. The discussion needs more information on the risk of
CVD or mortality in patients with ALD.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03432-3 (2024)

Title: Association of Life’s Essential 8 with Mortalities in Patients with Alcohol-Related Liver
Disease
Version: 1 Date: 02 Aug 2024
Reviewer's report:
The authors have addressed some of my concerns. Although the authors chose not to adopt the
new SLD definition, the manuscript is interesting and delivers important messages.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03432-3 (2024)

Title: Association of Life’s Essential 8 with Mortalities in Patients with Alcohol-Related Liver
Disease
Version: 1 Date: 04 Aug 2024
Reviewer's report:
Application of LE8 measures would improve cardiovascular outcomes regardless of the
underlying condition you are evaluating. This study did not compare outcomes of LE8
application measures in patients with and without ALD, Also, LE8 scores in your study were
not evaluated as a direct treatment option for ALD, hence it would be a stretch to suggest that
the LE8 score be applied as an effective treatment for ALD.  You could suggest the LE8 scores
be included in the overall management of patients with ALD, especially as many of them have
both ALD and metabolic associated steatotic liver disease.
Also see attached manuscript for other review comments.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03432-3 (2024)

Title: Association of Life’s Essential 8 with Mortalities in Patients with Alcohol-Related Liver
Disease
Version: 1 Date: 09 Aug 2024
Reviewer:  Yi-Chuan Yu
Reviewer's report:
Many thanks to the authors’ responses and revisions. There are still many grammar and spelling
typos throughout this revised manuscript. Besides, the methods section in the revised manuscript
still requires some heavy revisions. My specific comments are listed below.
1. “Alcohol related liver disease” should be revised to “Alcohol-related liver disease”
2. “The RCS indicated that there is not a linear relationship between LE8 and cardiovascular
mortality.” Should be revised to “The RCS indicated that there is NO linear relationship between
LE8 and cardiovascular mortality.”
3. “LE8 socre is inversely and…” should be revised to “LE8 SCORE is inversely and…”
4. I appreciate the authors’ responses on how LE8 is calculated. However, as the primary
exposure variable of the study, a detailed derivation of LE8 should be included for the
transparency of the article and for the reproducibility of all potential future research.
5. Please provide a detailed explanation of how the 63-month median follow-up time is
calculated. Are all the essential variables for LE8 measured on the same day for the participants?
If not, how do the authors handle the inconsistent start date in the Cox model? Besides, if
participants without follow-up data were excluded, why not include these individuals in Figure
1?
6. “…which measures adherence to a set of lifestyle behaviors and health factors, including
healthy diet…” should be “which measures adherence to a set of lifestyle behaviors and health
factors, including A healthy diet”.
7. There are 2 “the”s in the following statement: “Our study also revealed the dose-response
relationship between LE8 score and the the risk of long-term mortality in ALD patients using
restricted cubic splines (RCS), which has not been previously reported.”
8. Figure 3 seems to be mis-uploaded to the system.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03416-3 (2024)

Title: Nomogram based on lymphocyte-associated inflammatory indexes predicts portal vein
thrombosis after splenectomy with esophagogastric devascularization
Version: 1 Date: 02 Sep 2024
Reviewer's report:
This article studied a nomogram based on lymphocyte-related inflammatory indicators to predict
the risk of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) after splenectomy combined with gastroesophageal
devascularization, and constructed a prediction model through multivariable regression analysis.
Specific questions:
1. Research design and methods:
The authors selected a variety of lymphocyte-related inflammatory indicators to predict PVT,
but the article did not fully explain why these specific indicators were chosen. It is recommended
to add more literature support to explain the theoretical basis for selecting these indicators.
2. Sample size and statistical analysis:
Although the authors performed internal validation, the sample size was relatively small and
limited to a single-center retrospective study. The model stability and prediction accuracy
mentioned in the article may be limited by the sample size, and it is recommended that this
limitation be further emphasized in the Discussion section and validated in a multi-center study
in the future.
For multivariate analysis, some variables did not show significance in the univariate analysis
but were included in the model in the multivariate analysis. It is recommended that the authors
further explain this phenomenon to increase the credibility of the study.
3. Clinical applicability of the results:
Although this article proposes a relatively complete nomogram model, how to operate it in actual
clinical practice has not been explained in detail. It is recommended that the authors add a section
to describe in detail the specific application process of this model in clinical practice and explore
its operability in different medical environments.
4. Depth of discussion section:
The Discussion section is brief on interpretation of results and comparisons with existing
research. It is recommended that the author further explore the mechanism behind the research
results and compare the results of this study with previous literature in more detail to highlight
the innovations and shortcomings of this article.
5. Charts and data display:
Some charts in the article (such as ROC curves, calibration curves) can be further optimized to
improve readability. In addition, it is recommended to add a tabular summary of the model's
prediction performance to facilitate readers to quickly understand the overall performance of
the model.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03416-3 (2024)

Title: Nomogram based on lymphocyte-associated inflammatory indexes predicts portal vein
thrombosis after splenectomy with esophagogastric devascularization
Version: 1 Date: 02 Sep 2024
Reviewer:  Yi-Chan Chen
Reviewer's report:
I believe this study has significant implications for clinical practice in predicting the risk of PVT
after SVD. If the author can address these questions and make minor revisions, it would enhance
the study's clarity and impact.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03399-1 (2024)

Title: Effect of Factor VIII and FVIII/PC Ratio on Portal Vein Thrombosis in Liver Cirrhosis:
A Systematic Review and Meta#analysis
Version: 4 Date: 30 Jul 2024
Reviewer:  Dmitry Victorovich Garbuzenko
Reviewer's report:
Portal vein thrombosis represents a well-known complication during the natural course of
liver cirrhosis, ranging from asymptomatic cases to life-threating conditions related to portal
hypertension and hepatic decompensation. According to the results of current studies, a
decreased portal blood #ow velocity below 15 cm/sec is a major risk factor for the development
of portal vein thrombosis. The role of hemostatic alterations (inherited or acquired), in particular,
the effect of factor VIII and FVIII/protein C ratio in the development of portal vein thrombosis in
cirrhotic patients is controversial and widely discussed. The authors presented a well#structured
systematic review and meta#analysis with qualitative statistical processing of the material, based
on the current understanding of this actual problem. I agree with the authors that this study is the
first to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the effect of factor VIII activity
level and factor VIII/protein C ratio on the formation of portal vein thrombosis in cirrhotic
patients. Overall, his results were not a surprise. The activity levels of factor VIII were the same
in patients with cirrhosis of the liver with and without portal vein thrombosis, and the value of the
factor VIII/protein C ratio remained unclear. Considering that prospective/retrospective cohort
studies and case-control studies were included to research this problem, randomized controlled
trials involving a large number of patients are needed to assess the effect of factor VIII activity
level and factor VIII/protein C ratio on the formation of portal vein thrombosis in cirrhotic
patients.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03399-1 (2024)

Title: Effect of Factor VIII and FVIII/PC Ratio on Portal Vein Thrombosis in Liver Cirrhosis:
A Systematic Review and Meta#analysis
Version: 4 Date: 06 Aug 2024
Reviewer's report:
The manuscript  “Effect of factor VIII and FVIII/PC ratio on portal vein thrombosis in liver
cirrhosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis” reports the results of a systematic review
including  10 original studies that aim to elucidate the role of FVIII and FVIII/PC on the capacity
to predict portal vein thrombosis development.
The authors state that their result show that although FVIII alone does not correlate with the
presence of portal vein thrombosis the ratio FVIII/PC does show a potential to predict portal
vein thrombosis development.
However, there is a major concern in the methodology used. THe analysis performed evaluates
the difference in FVIII and FVIII/PC ratio levels between patients with and without PVT, but
importantly this does not necessarily imply causality. It is not clear if all the studies included
measured these coagulation factors at the same time (at the moment of PVT occurrence or much
earlier at the beggining of the disease? This is highly relevant to be able to conclude that FVIII/
PC ratio predicts PVT developent.
ALso, it would be very interesting if the authors could analyze if, as suggested by many of the
studies included in the metanalysis, FVIII and FVIII/PC ratio do not  correlate with the risk of
thrombosis but with the risk of hepatic decompensation or death. Indeed, this would be a very
important conclusion of the metanalysis.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03399-1 (2024)

Title: Effect of Factor VIII and FVIII/PC Ratio on Portal Vein Thrombosis in Liver Cirrhosis:
A Systematic Review and Meta#analysis
Version: 5 Date: 19 Aug 2024
Reviewer:  Dmitry Victorovich Garbuzenko
Reviewer's report:
I have no remarks.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03399-1 (2024)

Title: Effect of Factor VIII and FVIII/PC Ratio on Portal Vein Thrombosis in Liver Cirrhosis:
A Systematic Review and Meta#analysis
Version: 5 Date: 30 Aug 2024
Reviewer's report:
THe authors have adequately addressed the points raised during the review process
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03379-5 (2024)

Title: Nomogram for assistant diagnosing acute suppurative cholangitis: a case-control study
Version: 0 Date: 06 Jan 2024
Reviewer:  Haijie Hu
Reviewer's report:
First,I would like to congratulate on the authors to build a new nomogram model  in assisting
the diagnosis of ASC using concurrent cholecystitis, CRP, PCT, TBA, and bile duct diameter.
The study is of high value, there are also some new findings inside, I reconmmend publication.
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03380-y (2024)

Title: Application of antithrombotic drugs and risk factor analysis in ICU patients with lower
gastrointestinal bleeding from MIMIC-IV
Version: 4 Date: 16 Jun 2024
Reviewer:  Ali S. Taha
Reviewer's report:
Objective: it would be easier to say: To assess the effects of continued use of antithrombotic
therapy on the outcomes of lower GI bleeding (LIGB) in ICU patients focusing on in-hospital
mortality, rebleeding, and length of hospital and ICU stays, as compared with those not taking
these agents.
What was the definition of LGIB: this needs to be mentioned in Methods
This study was a retrospective observational study of patients using the multi-center Medical
Information Mart for Intensive Care database (MIMIC-IV 2.2). The assumption from this is that
the patients were living in USA. The title and the abstract should mention that the study used
the MIMIC-IV database, maintained by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Beth
Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Otherwise, the readers will be made to think that it included
Chinese patients.
Table-1 should start with a row saying “Patients with Full Details (for the first 3 columns”, and
those “analyzed by propensity score matching (PSM)” for the last 3 columns
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03380-y (2024)

Title: Application of antithrombotic drugs and risk factor analysis in ICU patients with lower
gastrointestinal bleeding from MIMIC-IV
Version: 6 Date: 28 Jul 2024
Reviewer:  Ali S. Taha
Reviewer's report:
The authors have amended the manuscript to include my previous suggestions on the title of the
article, objective, and definition of LGIB.
However, Table-1 has not been amended. It should start with a new row saying “Patients with
Full Details (for the first 3 columns”, and those “analyzed by propensity score matching (PSM)”
for the last 3 columns
Review for 10.1186/s12876-024-03380-y (2024)

Title: Application of antithrombotic drugs and risk factor analysis in ICU patients with lower
gastrointestinal bleeding from MIMIC-IV
Version: 6 Date: 05 Aug 2024
Reviewer's report:
Thanks for your reply and corrections. The manuscript's content is clearer and more
understandable to the readers.
Please check the overlap of the second and third paragraphs in the result.
From my perspective, the manuscript can be acceptable for publication.