Title: Lower end of treatment HBsAg and HBcrAg were associated with HBsAg loss after
nucleos(t)ide analog cessation
Version: 2 Date: 01 May 2023
Reviewer's report:
Reviewer 1
Query 6: please do include an ethical statement in your method section. It should be stated there.
Query 8. Please include your patient characteristics in a table. Besides the characteristics
summed in your result section, also include:
- mean/median HBsAg levels at EOT
- mean/median HBV RNA levels at EOT
- mean/median HBcrAg level at EOT
- mean/median ALT levels at EOT
- ethnicity
- HBeAg status at the start of nucleotide analogs
- liver stiffness measurement at EOT (i.e. number of patients with fibrosis/cirrhosis)
Query 9. Still, at the beginning of your study, you start with 99+44=143 patients at risk, and at
24 months follow-up 28+68=96. What happened with the other 47 patients?
Query 11: I understand your statement that results might still be representative, please include a
statement (in well-written English) in your discussion section, including an explanation of what
impact the small cohort could have had.
Query 12: The explanation regarding the number of HBsAg loss is very weak (page 14, line
15-17). It must be possible to say more about the similarities/differences between the studies
and how these could be explained.
In response to your statement about HBsAg level cut-offs (page 16, line 2-5): you state that
HBsAg cut-offs could not solely be used as a criterium. Please also include a statement about
which other criteria should be used.
Page 16, line 19-21: why is it unclear if HBcrAg is a good marker to select patients for
NUC cessation? You only summarized differences in results between studies, not how these
differences could be explained. Which limitations of HBcrAg are there and why?
Query 13: Please consider consulting someone for academic proofreading. The quality of
English is still poor.
Title: Lower end of treatment HBsAg and HBcrAg were associated with HBsAg loss after
nucleos(t)ide analog cessation
Version: 2 Date: 01 May 2023
Reviewer's report:
Reviewer 1
Query 6: please do include an ethical statement in your method section. It should be stated there.
Query 8. Please include your patient characteristics in a table. Besides the characteristics
summed in your result section, also include:
- mean/median HBsAg levels at EOT
- mean/median HBV RNA levels at EOT
- mean/median HBcrAg level at EOT
- mean/median ALT levels at EOT
- ethnicity
- HBeAg status at the start of nucleotide analogs
- liver stiffness measurement at EOT (i.e. number of patients with fibrosis/cirrhosis)
Query 9. Still, at the beginning of your study, you start with 99+44=143 patients at risk, and at
24 months follow-up 28+68=96. What happened with the other 47 patients?
Query 11: I understand your statement that results might still be representative, please include a
statement (in well-written English) in your discussion section, including an explanation of what
impact the small cohort could have had.
Query 12: The explanation regarding the number of HBsAg loss is very weak (page 14, line
15-17). It must be possible to say more about the similarities/differences between the studies
and how these could be explained.
In response to your statement about HBsAg level cut-offs (page 16, line 2-5): you state that
HBsAg cut-offs could not solely be used as a criterium. Please also include a statement about
which other criteria should be used.
Page 16, line 19-21: why is it unclear if HBcrAg is a good marker to select patients for
NUC cessation? You only summarized differences in results between studies, not how these
differences could be explained. Which limitations of HBcrAg are there and why?
Query 13: Please consider consulting someone for academic proofreading. The quality of
English is still poor.
Please review this paper.
user
Title: Lower end of treatment HBsAg and HBcrAg were associated with HBsAg loss after
nucleos(t)ide analog cessation
Version: 2 Date: 01 May 2023
Reviewer's report:
Reviewer 1
Query 6: please do include an ethical statement in your method section. It should be stated there.
Query 8. Please include your patient characteristics in a table. Besides the characteristics
summed in your result section, also include:
- mean/median HBsAg levels at EOT
- mean/median HBV RNA levels at EOT
- mean/median HBcrAg level at EOT
- mean/median ALT levels at EOT
- ethnicity
- HBeAg status at the start of nucleotide analogs
- liver stiffness measurement at EOT (i.e. number of patients with fibrosis/cirrhosis)
Query 9. Still, at the beginning of your study, you start with 99+44=143 patients at risk, and at
24 months follow-up 28+68=96. What happened with the other 47 patients?
Query 11: I understand your statement that results might still be representative, please include a
statement (in well-written English) in your discussion section, including an explanation of what
impact the small cohort could have had.
Query 12: The explanation regarding the number of HBsAg loss is very weak (page 14, line
15-17). It must be possible to say more about the similarities/differences between the studies
and how these could be explained.
In response to your statement about HBsAg level cut-offs (page 16, line 2-5): you state that
HBsAg cut-offs could not solely be used as a criterium. Please also include a statement about
which other criteria should be used.
Page 16, line 19-21: why is it unclear if HBcrAg is a good marker to select patients for
NUC cessation? You only summarized differences in results between studies, not how these
differences could be explained. Which limitations of HBcrAg are there and why?
Query 13: Please consider consulting someone for academic proofreading. The quality of
English is still poor.
assistant