Title:  Higher serum uric acid to HDL-cholesterol ratio is associated with onset of non-alcoholic
fatty liver disease in a non-obese Chinese population with normal blood lipid levels
Version: 2 Date: 24 Jan 2022
Reviewer:  Michael Estep
Reviewer's report:
Background:
Numerous grammatical errors severely impede comprehension of the material.
Generalities and vague terminology in the first few sentences of the background unintentionally
call in to question the necessity for the research and (to me) undercut the credibility of the author.
In my opinion the Background should be entirely rewritten to reflect the importance of a
predictive tool for detecting (or at least screening for) NAFLD in lean patients.
Methods:
Paragraph one should be rewritten for clarity and logical sentence order and structure. Sentence
"Exclusion criteria at baseline has been mentioned in previous studies" requires references.
Once again sentence order and structure is needlessly confusing and awkward. For instance,
"All values of biochemical measurements were measured by an automated analyser (Abbott
AxSYM) using standard methods. The laboratory parameters included TC, TG, LDL-c, HDL-
c, UA, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine(Cr), alanine aminotransferase(ALT), aspartate
aminotransferase (AST), albumin (ALB), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), total bilirubin (TB),
globulin (GLB), total protein (TP)" could be written as a single much more clear sentence.
I understand the practical necessity of using ultrasound as a proxy indicator for NAFLD, but
this is an issue that alters the context of the findings and should be discussed in detail; even a
statement suggesting that this method and ultrasound should be compared to biopsy in a future
study would be appropriate.
Results:
Still grammar, sentence structure, and sentence order issues plague this section making
comprehension difficult.
Discussion:
As above, the intent of the authors is obscured by writing issues. There are also typos in this
section that, in the context of the other issues, further undermine the authors' intent.
Discussion of metabolic dysfunction in relation to lean NAFLD is a good one, but perhaps could
use more fleshing out with specific examples from the results.
Title:  Higher serum uric acid to HDL-cholesterol ratio is associated with onset of non-alcoholic
fatty liver disease in a non-obese Chinese population with normal blood lipid levels
Version: 2 Date: 24 Jan 2022
Reviewer:  Michael Estep
Reviewer's report:
Background:
Numerous grammatical errors severely impede comprehension of the material.
Generalities and vague terminology in the first few sentences of the background unintentionally
call in to question the necessity for the research and (to me) undercut the credibility of the author.
In my opinion the Background should be entirely rewritten to reflect the importance of a
predictive tool for detecting (or at least screening for) NAFLD in lean patients.
Methods:
Paragraph one should be rewritten for clarity and logical sentence order and structure. Sentence
"Exclusion criteria at baseline has been mentioned in previous studies" requires references.
Once again sentence order and structure is needlessly confusing and awkward. For instance,
"All values of biochemical measurements were measured by an automated analyser (Abbott
AxSYM) using standard methods. The laboratory parameters included TC, TG, LDL-c, HDL-
c, UA, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine(Cr), alanine aminotransferase(ALT), aspartate
aminotransferase (AST), albumin (ALB), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), total bilirubin (TB),
globulin (GLB), total protein (TP)" could be written as a single much more clear sentence.
I understand the practical necessity of using ultrasound as a proxy indicator for NAFLD, but
this is an issue that alters the context of the findings and should be discussed in detail; even a
statement suggesting that this method and ultrasound should be compared to biopsy in a future
study would be appropriate.
Results:
Still grammar, sentence structure, and sentence order issues plague this section making
comprehension difficult.
Discussion:
As above, the intent of the authors is obscured by writing issues. There are also typos in this
section that, in the context of the other issues, further undermine the authors' intent.
Discussion of metabolic dysfunction in relation to lean NAFLD is a good one, but perhaps could
use more fleshing out with specific examples from the results.
Please review this paper.
user
Title:  Higher serum uric acid to HDL-cholesterol ratio is associated with onset of non-alcoholic
fatty liver disease in a non-obese Chinese population with normal blood lipid levels
Version: 2 Date: 24 Jan 2022
Reviewer:  Michael Estep
Reviewer's report:
Background:
Numerous grammatical errors severely impede comprehension of the material.
Generalities and vague terminology in the first few sentences of the background unintentionally
call in to question the necessity for the research and (to me) undercut the credibility of the author.
In my opinion the Background should be entirely rewritten to reflect the importance of a
predictive tool for detecting (or at least screening for) NAFLD in lean patients.
Methods:
Paragraph one should be rewritten for clarity and logical sentence order and structure. Sentence
"Exclusion criteria at baseline has been mentioned in previous studies" requires references.
Once again sentence order and structure is needlessly confusing and awkward. For instance,
"All values of biochemical measurements were measured by an automated analyser (Abbott
AxSYM) using standard methods. The laboratory parameters included TC, TG, LDL-c, HDL-
c, UA, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine(Cr), alanine aminotransferase(ALT), aspartate
aminotransferase (AST), albumin (ALB), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), total bilirubin (TB),
globulin (GLB), total protein (TP)" could be written as a single much more clear sentence.
I understand the practical necessity of using ultrasound as a proxy indicator for NAFLD, but
this is an issue that alters the context of the findings and should be discussed in detail; even a
statement suggesting that this method and ultrasound should be compared to biopsy in a future
study would be appropriate.
Results:
Still grammar, sentence structure, and sentence order issues plague this section making
comprehension difficult.
Discussion:
As above, the intent of the authors is obscured by writing issues. There are also typos in this
section that, in the context of the other issues, further undermine the authors' intent.
Discussion of metabolic dysfunction in relation to lean NAFLD is a good one, but perhaps could
use more fleshing out with specific examples from the results.
assistant