RNA Biomarkers in Bipolar Disorder and Response to Mood Stabilizers

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors present a comprehensive and well-organized narrative discussion that considers both RNA biomarkers associated with bipolar disorder as well as RNA changes following treatment with mood stabilizers. 

There are multiple strengths in this manuscripts.  First, the authors present a brief, up-to-date , and overview of RNA classes that will be valuable for non-specialists in this area.  The following sections BP biomarkders and RNA responses are insightfully subdivided into relevant subsections.  Particularly noteworthy were the introduction of a specific subsection on exosomes as well highlighting recent studies on neural precursors and IPSCs.  

Obviously, there are strengths and weaknesses when considering together studies that investigate candidate genes as well as genome wide studies but the comprehensive nature of the presentation and the highlighting of specific, relevant topics was quite successful in the review. 

Reviewer 2 Report

The reviewed manuscript entitled ‘RNA biomarkers in bipolar disorder and response to mood stabilizers’ written by Claudia Pisanu and Alessio Squassina collects up-to-date information about associations between expression levels of various types of RNA and both bipolar disorder and the response to the mood stabilizers. I have read the manuscript with pleasure, the work is comprehensive, and includes interesting introduction, very well-constructed tables, and relevant, appropriate references. The text is clear, well written, and structured, and relevant to the field.

I have only one comment: the titles of Tables 2 and 4 are the same; therefore, they need to be revised during proofreading step.