Reviewer's report
Title:Diagnostic sensitivity of carbohydrate deficient transferrin in heavy drinkers
Version:2Date:24 February 2014
Reviewer: Luca Morini
Reviewer's report:
The article is of interest and well designed.
Unfortunately the cohort of sample is too small to perform adequate statistical
analysis.
Discretionary revisions
The authors stated at the beginning of the introduction that CDT is the most
specific biomarker of heavy alcohol consumption. Actually, during the last
decade, ethyl glucuronide in hair showed a diagnostic specificity at least at the
same level of CDT, and sometimes even better. Therefore I would suggest to
rephrase the statement or to discuss CDT in comparison with EtG in hair.
Minor Essential revisions
Please add to the abbreviations: OR, SPSS, SD, HCV.
For a better understanding of Table 1 and 2, please add a legend describing the
meaning of P. Please be consistent with number of decimals in Table 1.
Major Compulsory Revisions
The main weakness of this article is the small number of samples analyzed.
Several studies, performed on a fairly greater cohort of subjects have already
been published on the same issue. Therefore in my opinion the authors should
discuss more in detailed what is the novelty of their study in comparison with the
previously published ones.
Level of interest: An article of limited interest
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:Diagnostic sensitivity of carbohydrate deficient transferrin in heavy drinkers
Version:2Date:24 February 2014
Reviewer: Luca Morini
Reviewer's report:
The article is of interest and well designed.
Unfortunately the cohort of sample is too small to perform adequate statistical
analysis.
Discretionary revisions
The authors stated at the beginning of the introduction that CDT is the most
specific biomarker of heavy alcohol consumption. Actually, during the last
decade, ethyl glucuronide in hair showed a diagnostic specificity at least at the
same level of CDT, and sometimes even better. Therefore I would suggest to
rephrase the statement or to discuss CDT in comparison with EtG in hair.
Minor Essential revisions
Please add to the abbreviations: OR, SPSS, SD, HCV.
For a better understanding of Table 1 and 2, please add a legend describing the
meaning of P. Please be consistent with number of decimals in Table 1.
Major Compulsory Revisions
The main weakness of this article is the small number of samples analyzed.
Several studies, performed on a fairly greater cohort of subjects have already
been published on the same issue. Therefore in my opinion the authors should
discuss more in detailed what is the novelty of their study in comparison with the
previously published ones.
Level of interest: An article of limited interest
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:Diagnostic sensitivity of carbohydrate deficient transferrin in heavy drinkers
Version:2Date:24 February 2014
Reviewer: Luca Morini
Reviewer's report:
The article is of interest and well designed.
Unfortunately the cohort of sample is too small to perform adequate statistical
analysis.
Discretionary revisions
The authors stated at the beginning of the introduction that CDT is the most
specific biomarker of heavy alcohol consumption. Actually, during the last
decade, ethyl glucuronide in hair showed a diagnostic specificity at least at the
same level of CDT, and sometimes even better. Therefore I would suggest to
rephrase the statement or to discuss CDT in comparison with EtG in hair.
Minor Essential revisions
Please add to the abbreviations: OR, SPSS, SD, HCV.
For a better understanding of Table 1 and 2, please add a legend describing the
meaning of P. Please be consistent with number of decimals in Table 1.
Major Compulsory Revisions
The main weakness of this article is the small number of samples analyzed.
Several studies, performed on a fairly greater cohort of subjects have already
been published on the same issue. Therefore in my opinion the authors should
discuss more in detailed what is the novelty of their study in comparison with the
previously published ones.
Level of interest: An article of limited interest
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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