Reviewer's report
Title:Non-Invasive Biomarkers for Hepatic Fibrosis
Version: 2Date:26 May 2011
Reviewer: Laurent Castera
Reviewer's report:
The manuscript has been improved.
There are still however some issues that need to be addressed.
Transient elastography
The quoted references are still inappropriate. For instance ref 35 deals with
methotrexate.
Please quote the index studies in Hep C (Ziol Hepatol 2005 and Castera Gastro
2005) as well as meta-analyses (Friedrich-Rust Gastro 2008). Ref 39 is
incomplete: please also quote the first study suggesting that the combination of
fibroscan and biomarkers may increase diagnostic accuracy (Castera Gastro
2005).
Performance of biomarkers
The chapter on biomarker is still too lengthy and needs to be shortened.
The details regarding the different tests available need to be summarized.
Strategies combining biomarkers (APRI and Fibrotest) (Sebastiani J Hepatol
2006 and Hepatology 2009) should be mentioned and discussed.
Table 2: Actitest is not a marker of fibrosis but of inflammation.
The title needs to be changed as previously suggested
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.
Reviewer's report
Title:Non-Invasive Biomarkers for Hepatic Fibrosis
Version: 2Date:26 May 2011
Reviewer: Laurent Castera
Reviewer's report:
The manuscript has been improved.
There are still however some issues that need to be addressed.
Transient elastography
The quoted references are still inappropriate. For instance ref 35 deals with
methotrexate.
Please quote the index studies in Hep C (Ziol Hepatol 2005 and Castera Gastro
2005) as well as meta-analyses (Friedrich-Rust Gastro 2008). Ref 39 is
incomplete: please also quote the first study suggesting that the combination of
fibroscan and biomarkers may increase diagnostic accuracy (Castera Gastro
2005).
Performance of biomarkers
The chapter on biomarker is still too lengthy and needs to be shortened.
The details regarding the different tests available need to be summarized.
Strategies combining biomarkers (APRI and Fibrotest) (Sebastiani J Hepatol
2006 and Hepatology 2009) should be mentioned and discussed.
Table 2: Actitest is not a marker of fibrosis but of inflammation.
The title needs to be changed as previously suggested
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.
Please review this paper.
user
Reviewer's report
Title:Non-Invasive Biomarkers for Hepatic Fibrosis
Version: 2Date:26 May 2011
Reviewer: Laurent Castera
Reviewer's report:
The manuscript has been improved.
There are still however some issues that need to be addressed.
Transient elastography
The quoted references are still inappropriate. For instance ref 35 deals with
methotrexate.
Please quote the index studies in Hep C (Ziol Hepatol 2005 and Castera Gastro
2005) as well as meta-analyses (Friedrich-Rust Gastro 2008). Ref 39 is
incomplete: please also quote the first study suggesting that the combination of
fibroscan and biomarkers may increase diagnostic accuracy (Castera Gastro
2005).
Performance of biomarkers
The chapter on biomarker is still too lengthy and needs to be shortened.
The details regarding the different tests available need to be summarized.
Strategies combining biomarkers (APRI and Fibrotest) (Sebastiani J Hepatol
2006 and Hepatology 2009) should be mentioned and discussed.
Table 2: Actitest is not a marker of fibrosis but of inflammation.
The title needs to be changed as previously suggested
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.
assistant