Reviewer's report
Title:Study of the effects of antivirus therapy in patients with chronic liver
disease due to hepatitis C virus infection
Version: 1Date:25 May 2012
Reviewer: Sohail Muhammad Afzal
Reviewer's report:
Minor Revisions:
The study presented in the manuscript by mubeen et al. showed the importance
of homocysteine as a biomarker for HCV therapy efficacy through comparative
levels of plasma homocysteine before, during and after the therapy along with
other parameters. The manuscript is well written and may be considered for
publication subject to following revisions:
1. It seems that the study is based on multigenotype of HCV, while response to
antiviral therapy differs for each genotype. Therefore, it is suggested that the title
may be revised to highlight the significance of homocysteine as a biomarker for
antiviral therapy efficacy in chronic HCV patients, which is the major emphasis of
the study.
2. The article in based on HCV patients in Pakistan, so it should address HCV
prevalence in Pakistan in ‘introduction’.
3. It should be clear for relapse patients, whether Hcy decreased during therapy
and (increased again after therapy) or the therapy had no effect on Hcy levels?
4. The results showed that the antiviral therapy was effective only for 43%
patients. So the conclusion may be revised to mention the need of other more
efficient drugs with better efficiency. Like direct acting drugs which are under
investigation now a days.
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:Study of the effects of antivirus therapy in patients with chronic liver
disease due to hepatitis C virus infection
Version: 1Date:25 May 2012
Reviewer: Sohail Muhammad Afzal
Reviewer's report:
Minor Revisions:
The study presented in the manuscript by mubeen et al. showed the importance
of homocysteine as a biomarker for HCV therapy efficacy through comparative
levels of plasma homocysteine before, during and after the therapy along with
other parameters. The manuscript is well written and may be considered for
publication subject to following revisions:
1. It seems that the study is based on multigenotype of HCV, while response to
antiviral therapy differs for each genotype. Therefore, it is suggested that the title
may be revised to highlight the significance of homocysteine as a biomarker for
antiviral therapy efficacy in chronic HCV patients, which is the major emphasis of
the study.
2. The article in based on HCV patients in Pakistan, so it should address HCV
prevalence in Pakistan in ‘introduction’.
3. It should be clear for relapse patients, whether Hcy decreased during therapy
and (increased again after therapy) or the therapy had no effect on Hcy levels?
4. The results showed that the antiviral therapy was effective only for 43%
patients. So the conclusion may be revised to mention the need of other more
efficient drugs with better efficiency. Like direct acting drugs which are under
investigation now a days.
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:Study of the effects of antivirus therapy in patients with chronic liver
disease due to hepatitis C virus infection
Version: 1Date:25 May 2012
Reviewer: Sohail Muhammad Afzal
Reviewer's report:
Minor Revisions:
The study presented in the manuscript by mubeen et al. showed the importance
of homocysteine as a biomarker for HCV therapy efficacy through comparative
levels of plasma homocysteine before, during and after the therapy along with
other parameters. The manuscript is well written and may be considered for
publication subject to following revisions:
1. It seems that the study is based on multigenotype of HCV, while response to
antiviral therapy differs for each genotype. Therefore, it is suggested that the title
may be revised to highlight the significance of homocysteine as a biomarker for
antiviral therapy efficacy in chronic HCV patients, which is the major emphasis of
the study.
2. The article in based on HCV patients in Pakistan, so it should address HCV
prevalence in Pakistan in ‘introduction’.
3. It should be clear for relapse patients, whether Hcy decreased during therapy
and (increased again after therapy) or the therapy had no effect on Hcy levels?
4. The results showed that the antiviral therapy was effective only for 43%
patients. So the conclusion may be revised to mention the need of other more
efficient drugs with better efficiency. Like direct acting drugs which are under
investigation now a days.
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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