Reviewer's report
Title:Prevalence of primary biliary cirrhosis in adults referring hospital for annual
health check-up in Southern China
Version: 1Date:22 July 2010
Reviewer: Piotr Milkiewicz
Reviewer's report:
In their study Liu et al. analyzed prevalence of PBC in 8.126 adult subjects,
without apparent symptoms of liver disease, referred for annual health check-up
in Southern China. Initial screen for both AMA and ANA was done with indirect
immunofluorescence (IF) and sera which tested positive were further verified with
ELISA/immunoblot for AMA-M2 and PBC specific ANA such as sp-100 and
gp210. In total, 22 subjects tested positive for PBC specific antibodies in ELISA
and additional 17 tested for AMA on IF only.
Considering the scarcity of the literature data on the prevalence of PBC specific
antibodies in general population this study deserves publication. It contributes to
our limited knowledge in this area, particularly with regards to Asia region.
Minor Essential Revisions
I think the authors could apply recently proposed by EASL (EASL Clinical
Practice Guidelines: management of cholestatic liver diseases. J Hepatol 2009,
51, 237-267.) criteria for the diagnosis of PBC, that would simplify the message
of the paper. According to these criteria liver biopsy is not essential for the
diagnosis of PBC in subjects with cholestatic enzymes and positive AMA.
Relevant papers which I think should also be quoted are two Estonian studies
(Turchany JM, Uibo R, Kivik T, Van de WJ, Prindiville T, Coppel RL, & Gershwin
ME (1997) A study of antimitochondrial antibodies in a random population in
Estonia. Am J Gastroenterol, 92, 124-126 and Kisand KE, Metskula K, Kisand
KV, Kivik T, Gershwin ME, & Uibo R (2001). The follow-up of asymptomatic
persons with antibodies to pyruvate dehydrogenase in adult population samples.
J Gastroenterol 36, 248-254.).
Discretionary Revisions
In places (Results section) the manuscript is not easy to follow. Perhaps a figure
with a graphical presentation of obtained data (instead of the table) would be of
help and improve the clarity of the message.
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:Prevalence of primary biliary cirrhosis in adults referring hospital for annual
health check-up in Southern China
Version: 1Date:22 July 2010
Reviewer: Piotr Milkiewicz
Reviewer's report:
In their study Liu et al. analyzed prevalence of PBC in 8.126 adult subjects,
without apparent symptoms of liver disease, referred for annual health check-up
in Southern China. Initial screen for both AMA and ANA was done with indirect
immunofluorescence (IF) and sera which tested positive were further verified with
ELISA/immunoblot for AMA-M2 and PBC specific ANA such as sp-100 and
gp210. In total, 22 subjects tested positive for PBC specific antibodies in ELISA
and additional 17 tested for AMA on IF only.
Considering the scarcity of the literature data on the prevalence of PBC specific
antibodies in general population this study deserves publication. It contributes to
our limited knowledge in this area, particularly with regards to Asia region.
Minor Essential Revisions
I think the authors could apply recently proposed by EASL (EASL Clinical
Practice Guidelines: management of cholestatic liver diseases. J Hepatol 2009,
51, 237-267.) criteria for the diagnosis of PBC, that would simplify the message
of the paper. According to these criteria liver biopsy is not essential for the
diagnosis of PBC in subjects with cholestatic enzymes and positive AMA.
Relevant papers which I think should also be quoted are two Estonian studies
(Turchany JM, Uibo R, Kivik T, Van de WJ, Prindiville T, Coppel RL, & Gershwin
ME (1997) A study of antimitochondrial antibodies in a random population in
Estonia. Am J Gastroenterol, 92, 124-126 and Kisand KE, Metskula K, Kisand
KV, Kivik T, Gershwin ME, & Uibo R (2001). The follow-up of asymptomatic
persons with antibodies to pyruvate dehydrogenase in adult population samples.
J Gastroenterol 36, 248-254.).
Discretionary Revisions
In places (Results section) the manuscript is not easy to follow. Perhaps a figure
with a graphical presentation of obtained data (instead of the table) would be of
help and improve the clarity of the message.
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:Prevalence of primary biliary cirrhosis in adults referring hospital for annual
health check-up in Southern China
Version: 1Date:22 July 2010
Reviewer: Piotr Milkiewicz
Reviewer's report:
In their study Liu et al. analyzed prevalence of PBC in 8.126 adult subjects,
without apparent symptoms of liver disease, referred for annual health check-up
in Southern China. Initial screen for both AMA and ANA was done with indirect
immunofluorescence (IF) and sera which tested positive were further verified with
ELISA/immunoblot for AMA-M2 and PBC specific ANA such as sp-100 and
gp210. In total, 22 subjects tested positive for PBC specific antibodies in ELISA
and additional 17 tested for AMA on IF only.
Considering the scarcity of the literature data on the prevalence of PBC specific
antibodies in general population this study deserves publication. It contributes to
our limited knowledge in this area, particularly with regards to Asia region.
Minor Essential Revisions
I think the authors could apply recently proposed by EASL (EASL Clinical
Practice Guidelines: management of cholestatic liver diseases. J Hepatol 2009,
51, 237-267.) criteria for the diagnosis of PBC, that would simplify the message
of the paper. According to these criteria liver biopsy is not essential for the
diagnosis of PBC in subjects with cholestatic enzymes and positive AMA.
Relevant papers which I think should also be quoted are two Estonian studies
(Turchany JM, Uibo R, Kivik T, Van de WJ, Prindiville T, Coppel RL, & Gershwin
ME (1997) A study of antimitochondrial antibodies in a random population in
Estonia. Am J Gastroenterol, 92, 124-126 and Kisand KE, Metskula K, Kisand
KV, Kivik T, Gershwin ME, & Uibo R (2001). The follow-up of asymptomatic
persons with antibodies to pyruvate dehydrogenase in adult population samples.
J Gastroenterol 36, 248-254.).
Discretionary Revisions
In places (Results section) the manuscript is not easy to follow. Perhaps a figure
with a graphical presentation of obtained data (instead of the table) would be of
help and improve the clarity of the message.
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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