Reviewer's report
Title:The I148M PNPLA3 polymorphism influences serum adiponectin in an
association study in patients with fatty liver and healthy controls
Version: 1Date:9 July 2012
Reviewer: Maria Antonella Burza
Reviewer's report:
In this manuscript, Valenti et al. examined the effect of PNPLA3 I148M
polymorphism on adiponectin serum levels in individuals with liver diseases and
in healthy controls. They found that PNPLA3 I148M variant is associated with
adiponectin levels both in individuals with non-alcoholic liver disease (NAFLD)
and in healthy controls, but not in individuals with chronic hepatitis C (CHC).
They conclude that PNPLA3 may be a genetic determinant of adiponectin levels
and modulation of its levels may be involved in the development of the entire
spectrum of NAFLD in individuals carrying the 148M allele.
This study is a very interesting and original report offering new perspective on the
possible mechanism underlying the association between NAFLD and PNPLA3
I148M mutation, a genetic variant strongly associated with liver diseases.
Major Compulsory Revisions
-
Minor Essential Revisions
1. Insulin levels and HOMA-IR are usually skewed variables. Were those
variables log-transformed in the analyses performed? Moreover, if they are
skewed variables they should be showed as median and interquartile range.
2. Adiponectin levels are highly related to insulin resistance. In the present work
by Valenti et al found an association between the PNPLA3 I148M polymorphism
and adiponectin levels whereas no association between this genetic variant and
insulin resistance has been found (see Table 4). A recent study by Palmer et al.
(PLoS ONE 2012) showed that PNPLA3 148M allele is associated with insulin
resistance, specifically in obese individuals. Probably both a lack of power and
the non-obese population examined concurred in their contrasting finding as also
suggested by the only marginal significance association between PNPLA3 I148M
polymorphism and ALT levels. Authors should acknowledge this as a limitation of
the study and they should also discuss the differences between their results and
those reported by Palmer et al.
3. It would be good to have at the bottom of the figures or alternatively in the
figure legend the number of individuals per each group.
Discretionary Revisions
1. To make the figure more reader-friendly it would be good to increase the font
size of the Y axis legend in figure 1A.
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
Reviewer's report
Title:The I148M PNPLA3 polymorphism influences serum adiponectin in an
association study in patients with fatty liver and healthy controls
Version: 1Date:9 July 2012
Reviewer: Maria Antonella Burza
Reviewer's report:
In this manuscript, Valenti et al. examined the effect of PNPLA3 I148M
polymorphism on adiponectin serum levels in individuals with liver diseases and
in healthy controls. They found that PNPLA3 I148M variant is associated with
adiponectin levels both in individuals with non-alcoholic liver disease (NAFLD)
and in healthy controls, but not in individuals with chronic hepatitis C (CHC).
They conclude that PNPLA3 may be a genetic determinant of adiponectin levels
and modulation of its levels may be involved in the development of the entire
spectrum of NAFLD in individuals carrying the 148M allele.
This study is a very interesting and original report offering new perspective on the
possible mechanism underlying the association between NAFLD and PNPLA3
I148M mutation, a genetic variant strongly associated with liver diseases.
Major Compulsory Revisions
-
Minor Essential Revisions
1. Insulin levels and HOMA-IR are usually skewed variables. Were those
variables log-transformed in the analyses performed? Moreover, if they are
skewed variables they should be showed as median and interquartile range.
2. Adiponectin levels are highly related to insulin resistance. In the present work
by Valenti et al found an association between the PNPLA3 I148M polymorphism
and adiponectin levels whereas no association between this genetic variant and
insulin resistance has been found (see Table 4). A recent study by Palmer et al.
(PLoS ONE 2012) showed that PNPLA3 148M allele is associated with insulin
resistance, specifically in obese individuals. Probably both a lack of power and
the non-obese population examined concurred in their contrasting finding as also
suggested by the only marginal significance association between PNPLA3 I148M
polymorphism and ALT levels. Authors should acknowledge this as a limitation of
the study and they should also discuss the differences between their results and
those reported by Palmer et al.
3. It would be good to have at the bottom of the figures or alternatively in the
figure legend the number of individuals per each group.
Discretionary Revisions
1. To make the figure more reader-friendly it would be good to increase the font
size of the Y axis legend in figure 1A.
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
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer's report
Title:The I148M PNPLA3 polymorphism influences serum adiponectin in an
association study in patients with fatty liver and healthy controls
Version: 1Date:9 July 2012
Reviewer: Maria Antonella Burza
Reviewer's report:
In this manuscript, Valenti et al. examined the effect of PNPLA3 I148M
polymorphism on adiponectin serum levels in individuals with liver diseases and
in healthy controls. They found that PNPLA3 I148M variant is associated with
adiponectin levels both in individuals with non-alcoholic liver disease (NAFLD)
and in healthy controls, but not in individuals with chronic hepatitis C (CHC).
They conclude that PNPLA3 may be a genetic determinant of adiponectin levels
and modulation of its levels may be involved in the development of the entire
spectrum of NAFLD in individuals carrying the 148M allele.
This study is a very interesting and original report offering new perspective on the
possible mechanism underlying the association between NAFLD and PNPLA3
I148M mutation, a genetic variant strongly associated with liver diseases.
Major Compulsory Revisions
-
Minor Essential Revisions
1. Insulin levels and HOMA-IR are usually skewed variables. Were those
variables log-transformed in the analyses performed? Moreover, if they are
skewed variables they should be showed as median and interquartile range.
2. Adiponectin levels are highly related to insulin resistance. In the present work
by Valenti et al found an association between the PNPLA3 I148M polymorphism
and adiponectin levels whereas no association between this genetic variant and
insulin resistance has been found (see Table 4). A recent study by Palmer et al.
(PLoS ONE 2012) showed that PNPLA3 148M allele is associated with insulin
resistance, specifically in obese individuals. Probably both a lack of power and
the non-obese population examined concurred in their contrasting finding as also
suggested by the only marginal significance association between PNPLA3 I148M
polymorphism and ALT levels. Authors should acknowledge this as a limitation of
the study and they should also discuss the differences between their results and
those reported by Palmer et al.
3. It would be good to have at the bottom of the figures or alternatively in the
figure legend the number of individuals per each group.
Discretionary Revisions
1. To make the figure more reader-friendly it would be good to increase the font
size of the Y axis legend in figure 1A.
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
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