Review for 10.1186/s12876-019-1002-4 (2019)

Reviewer ’s report  
 
Title: The Ussing chamber system for measuring intestinal permeability in health and disease  
 
Version: 1 Date: 01 Mar 2019  
 
Reviewer: Roy Dyer  
 
Reviewer's report:  
 
Minor revisions  
   Line 77: in blood or urine after oral intake...  
   Line 78: this method provide limited information on the location of altered intestinal 
permeability, mainly attributed to the collection time post dosing (reference Rao AS, et al, Am J 
Physiol Gastrointest Liver Physiol 2011; 301:G919 -28).    
   I don't think that Fig. 2A is n ecessary.  
   Section 148: What is the source material for the chamber units? Are the units fabricated from 
plexiglass or bought commercially? If fabricated, please detail that process.   
   Section 227: Please state the purpose of using Lucifer yellow in a ddition to the fluorophore.  
   Section 281: Is cellular transport confirmed by Lucifer yellow?  
   Fig. 4.: Does each line graph in B & C represent readings from each of the six chambers? If so, 
does each chamber have a tissue section from a distinct mouse and/or region? Addition of a 
symbols legend would be helpful.  
              Do the triangles in D occur in any of the other figures?  
              Please comment on the distribution and number of male and female individuals in Fig. 
4. In humans, resistance  is higher in females (Edogawa S, et al, FASEB Journal, vol 32, 2018). If 
this is also true in mice, how might these results be impacted or interpreted?  
   Section 292: What is the sex makeup of the 3 animals for each group (+Rx vs -Rx)?  
 
 
 
 
Are the methods appropriate and well described?  
If not, please specify what is required in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Does the work include the necessary controls?  
If not, please specify which controls are required in your comment s to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are the conclusions drawn adequately supported by the data shown?  
If not, please explain in your comments to the authors.  
 
Yes 
 
Are you able to assess any statistics in the manuscript or would you recommend an  
additional statistical revie w? 
If an additional statistical review is recommended, please specify what aspects require further  
assessment in your comments to the editors.  
 
Not relevant to th is manuscript  
 
Quality of written English  
Please indicate the quality of language in t he manuscript:  
 
Needs some lang uage corrections before being published  
 
Declaration of competing interests  
Please complete a declaration of competing interests, considering the following questions:  
 
1. Have you in the past five years received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an  
organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of this  
manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
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financially from the publication of this  manuscript, either now or in the future?  
 
3. Do you hold or are you currently applying for any patents relating to the content of the  
manuscript?  
 
4. Have you received reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that 
holds  or has applied f or patents relating to the content of the manuscript?  
 
5. Do you have any other financial competing interests?  
 
6. Do you have any non -financial competing interests in relation to this paper?  
 
If you can answer no to all of the above, write 'I declare that I have no competing interests' 
below.  If your reply is yes to any, please give details below.  
 
I declare that I have no competing interests.  
 
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