Understanding the Central Nervous System Symptoms of Rotavirus: A Qualitative Review

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors reviewed great number of available literature concerning effects of rotavirus infection on the central nervous system and routes of communication between gut and brain. The manuscript is well written and it clearly summarizes the data about CNS symptoms of rotavirus infections, which are also schematically presented on one figure.

I suggest only minor corrections:

P1, L37: “…is suggested to plays…“ Please, correct the sentence for “…is suggested to play…“

P2, L48: “…but these cells few in numbers…“ Please, correct the sentence for “…but these cells are few in numbers…“ (or „…are low in numbers…“)

P2, L61: “…neighboring EC cells…“ The abbreviation “EC“ should be explained when it is used for the first time.

P3, L133: “…and enables some vascular permeability.“ This sentence is quite complex but I think that correct wording would be: “…and enable some vascular permeability.“

P3, L141: “…it either only exist…“ In this sentence, you use Rotavirus as a singular, so you should correct for “…it either only exists…“.

P4, L164: “…the virus has already replicated several rounds and are present…“ Please, correct the sentence for “…the virus has already replicated several rounds and is present…“ (or „…and the virions are present…“).

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

 Thanks for the good comments on our manuscript “Understanding the central nervous system symptoms of rotavirus: A qualitative review”. We have now corrected all suggested changes by the reviewer.

P1, L37: “…is suggested to plays…“ Please, correct the sentence for “…is suggested to play…“

Response: This has been corrected, as suggested, line 37.

P2, L48: “…but these cells few in numbers…“ Please, correct the sentence for “…but these cells are few in numbers…“ (or „…are low in numbers…“)

Response: This has been corrected, as suggested, line 49 in manuscript with track changes (line 48 in plane manuscript).

P2, L61: “…neighboring EC cells…“ The abbreviation “EC“ should be explained when it is used for the first time.

Response: The abbreviation has now been explained the first time it is mentioned, line 49 in manuscript file with track changes (line 48 in plane manuscript file).

P3, L133: “…and enables some vascular permeability.“ This sentence is quite complex but I think that correct wording would be: “…and enable some vascular permeability.“

Response: The word has been corrected, as suggested, line 134 in manuscript with track changes (line 133 in plain manuscript).

P3, L141: “…it either only exist…“ In this sentence, you use Rotavirus as a singular, so you should correct for “…it either only exists…“.

Response: This grammar has been corrected, as suggested, line 142 in the manuscript with track changes (line 141 in the plain manuscript).

P4, L164: “…the virus has already replicated several rounds and are present…“ Please, correct the sentence for “…the virus has already replicated several rounds and is present…“ (or „…and the virions are present…“).

Response: This grammar has been corrected, as suggested, line 167 in manuscript with track changes (line 165 in plain manuscript)

Sincerely,

Marie Hagbom

Reviewer 2 Report

The review presented by Hagbom and Hellysaz is a well performed work that aims to understand the relationship of the rotavirus infection with the central nervous system complications.

The review is well conducted and the points are well defined. On the other hand, there are two aspects that should be improved:

• The panels II and III of the figure 1 seems to be part of the small intestine instead blood vessels, I suggest to modify colors to make clear the differences.
• In the line 161 of the conclusions section, authors say that virus can directly enter to the brain, but as they discuss previously in the line 140 this observation remains obscure, I suggest to manifest this controversy also in the conclusion section.

Author Response

Dear reviewer,

Thanks for the good comments on our manuscript “Understanding the central nervous system symptoms of rotavirus: A qualitative review”. We have now corrected the suggested changes by the reviewer.

The review is well conducted and the points are well defined. On the other hand, there are two aspects that should be improved:

• The panels II and III of the figure 1 seems to be part of the small intestine instead blood vessels, I suggest to modify colors to make clear the differences.

Answer to point 1:

The figure, panel II and III has been modified as suggested and blood vessels as well written in the figure.

• In the line 161 of the conclusions section, authors say that virus can directly enter to the brain, but as they discuss previously in the line 140 this observation remains obscure, I suggest to manifest this controversy also in the conclusion section.

Answer to point 2:

This has now been included in the discussion part as well, line 167-169 in the manuscript with track changes (line 166-167 in the plain manuscript file).

Sincerely,

Marie Hagbom