Title: Association between serum vitamin D status and severity of liver cirrhosis: Implications
for therapeutic targeting in Nigerian patients
Version: 2 Date: 30 Jul 2024
Reviewer's report:
In this manuscript the authors examine the potential association between serum Vit D and
severity of liver cirrhosis in a Nigerian patient population. The authors conduct a cross-sectional
study of 201 patients, 103 of which were diagnosed with liver cirrhosis and assess the severity
of the cirrhosis via child-pugh and MELD scores. They then use spearman correlation to assess
the potential relationship with Vit D levels. The authors identified that Vit D levels showed
strong negative correlation with the severity of cirrhosis, and conclude that low serum Vit D is
correlated with increased liver cirrhosis. They suggest this may be a notable prognostic marker
or therapeutic target in future studies.
Overall the paper is well-written, and of notable value. However, there is some minor changes
that are required.
1) Editing. There are several run-on/long sentences, inconsistent tense used (past and present),
some grammatical inconsistency (using commas vs not), and so on.
2) For the data presented in the graphs, the number inside the bars and the titles are all very small.
I also am not sure if its better to compare the n-values. My preference here would be to compare
to percentages, write the percentage above the respective bars or inside them in large enough
text to see clearly, and on the x-axis below the respective bar titles put the (n = xx) numbers.
This will also align better with the body of the text that presents data in the xx%(n=xx) format.
3) The authors noted that they corrected for confounding variables like BMI, but there are
other confounding variables that can effect access and uptake of Vit D. Some of these can
include access, socio-economic status, educational status and understanding of importance
of supplementation etc. These can have regional differences as well which may lead to
environmental factors also being different between the patient groups. The authors should
discuss this concept further in the limitations. Additionally in the limitations there should be a
view on how generalizable is this data to a global population. Do the authors expect this to be
reflective of only local populations, or of far wider relevance. In either case, it should at least
be noted in the discussion.
Title: Association between serum vitamin D status and severity of liver cirrhosis: Implications
for therapeutic targeting in Nigerian patients
Version: 2 Date: 30 Jul 2024
Reviewer's report:
In this manuscript the authors examine the potential association between serum Vit D and
severity of liver cirrhosis in a Nigerian patient population. The authors conduct a cross-sectional
study of 201 patients, 103 of which were diagnosed with liver cirrhosis and assess the severity
of the cirrhosis via child-pugh and MELD scores. They then use spearman correlation to assess
the potential relationship with Vit D levels. The authors identified that Vit D levels showed
strong negative correlation with the severity of cirrhosis, and conclude that low serum Vit D is
correlated with increased liver cirrhosis. They suggest this may be a notable prognostic marker
or therapeutic target in future studies.
Overall the paper is well-written, and of notable value. However, there is some minor changes
that are required.
1) Editing. There are several run-on/long sentences, inconsistent tense used (past and present),
some grammatical inconsistency (using commas vs not), and so on.
2) For the data presented in the graphs, the number inside the bars and the titles are all very small.
I also am not sure if its better to compare the n-values. My preference here would be to compare
to percentages, write the percentage above the respective bars or inside them in large enough
text to see clearly, and on the x-axis below the respective bar titles put the (n = xx) numbers.
This will also align better with the body of the text that presents data in the xx%(n=xx) format.
3) The authors noted that they corrected for confounding variables like BMI, but there are
other confounding variables that can effect access and uptake of Vit D. Some of these can
include access, socio-economic status, educational status and understanding of importance
of supplementation etc. These can have regional differences as well which may lead to
environmental factors also being different between the patient groups. The authors should
discuss this concept further in the limitations. Additionally in the limitations there should be a
view on how generalizable is this data to a global population. Do the authors expect this to be
reflective of only local populations, or of far wider relevance. In either case, it should at least
be noted in the discussion.
Please review this paper.
user
Title: Association between serum vitamin D status and severity of liver cirrhosis: Implications
for therapeutic targeting in Nigerian patients
Version: 2 Date: 30 Jul 2024
Reviewer's report:
In this manuscript the authors examine the potential association between serum Vit D and
severity of liver cirrhosis in a Nigerian patient population. The authors conduct a cross-sectional
study of 201 patients, 103 of which were diagnosed with liver cirrhosis and assess the severity
of the cirrhosis via child-pugh and MELD scores. They then use spearman correlation to assess
the potential relationship with Vit D levels. The authors identified that Vit D levels showed
strong negative correlation with the severity of cirrhosis, and conclude that low serum Vit D is
correlated with increased liver cirrhosis. They suggest this may be a notable prognostic marker
or therapeutic target in future studies.
Overall the paper is well-written, and of notable value. However, there is some minor changes
that are required.
1) Editing. There are several run-on/long sentences, inconsistent tense used (past and present),
some grammatical inconsistency (using commas vs not), and so on.
2) For the data presented in the graphs, the number inside the bars and the titles are all very small.
I also am not sure if its better to compare the n-values. My preference here would be to compare
to percentages, write the percentage above the respective bars or inside them in large enough
text to see clearly, and on the x-axis below the respective bar titles put the (n = xx) numbers.
This will also align better with the body of the text that presents data in the xx%(n=xx) format.
3) The authors noted that they corrected for confounding variables like BMI, but there are
other confounding variables that can effect access and uptake of Vit D. Some of these can
include access, socio-economic status, educational status and understanding of importance
of supplementation etc. These can have regional differences as well which may lead to
environmental factors also being different between the patient groups. The authors should
discuss this concept further in the limitations. Additionally in the limitations there should be a
view on how generalizable is this data to a global population. Do the authors expect this to be
reflective of only local populations, or of far wider relevance. In either case, it should at least
be noted in the discussion.
assistant