The Metabolic Effects of Cynara Supplementation in Overweight and Obese Class I Subjects with Newly Detected Impaired Fasting Glycemia: A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Randomized Clinical Trial
, Antonella Riva 3, Giovanna Petrangolini 3, Pietro Allegrini 3, Luisa Bernardinelli 4, Teresa Fazia 4, Gabriella Peroni 5,*, Clara Gasparri 5, Mara Nichetti 5, Milena Anna Faliva 5, Maurizio Naso 5 and Simone Perna 6Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
This is an interesting study on cynara extract.
Revision needed:
The phrase on row 45 is not clear. Please reformulate it.
In sample size section please add effect size to sample size calculation .
In tab 1 or in the results section please specify the gender distribution among the two groups.
Change definition of maximum and minimum blood pressure in Systolic and DIastolic
In the result section add the compliance to the treatment: were all compliant? how many tab did they take in %?
In the result section add the drop out % or specify that there were no dropout.
Did the subjects have adverse effects? If no, please specify that nobody have AE.
Author Response
To Editor-in-Chief,
We revised the manuscript with modifications and changes based on the reviewers’ comments.
We send you the revised manuscript together with our point-by-point response.
The changes in the text were highlighted in yellow.
Thanking you in advance for your kind collaboration and suggestions.
Best regards,
The authors
Reviewer 1
Keywords: It needs to be sorted in alphabetical order.
ANSWER: The keywords have been sorted in alphabetic order.
Authors should improve the introduction including the latest articles published for example in the MDPI platform or others, about other research in this field.
ANSWER: the introduction has been improved; new sentences and new references have been added
Methodology:
How many invitations did you send? Please write more about recruitment of the study group.
ANSWER: new sentences have been added
Did anyone drop out during the experiment?
ANSWER: Figure 1 presenting the patient flow chart has been added
How many tablets did the respondents receive? Did they all receive all tablets at once or in stages?
ANSWER: a new sentence has been added: “ the tablets (for the requirement of 4 weeks, 120 tablets in total) were delivered at the time of the first blood sample”
Did respondents return unused tablets?
ANSWER: At the end of the study, the patients returned the tablets. In the materials and methods, sentence has been revised in order to explain more clearly this topic.
Please provide the number consent of the Bioethics Committee
ANSWER: The number has been provided (9321/14122018).
There is no description of the strengths of the article. Authors should write about them in the end of discussion.
ANSWER: new sentences on strengths of the study have been added
Please check references as per the journal style.
ANSWER: The references have been adapted to journal style using a Reference Management Software.
Reviewer 2 Report
Thank you for the opportunity to review this article.
Comments and suggestions for Authors:
Keywords: It needs to be sorted in alphabetical order.
Authors should improve the introduction including the latest articles published for example in the MDPI platform or others, about other research in this field.
Methodology:
How many invitations did you send? Please write more about recruitment of the study group.
Did anyone drop out during the experiment?
How many tablets did the respondents receive? Did they all receive all tablets at once or in stages?
Did respondents return unused tablets?
Please provide the number consent of the Bioethics Committee
There is no description of the strengths of the article. Authors should write about them in the end of discussion.
Please check references as per the journal style.
Author Response
To Editor-in-Chief,
We revised the manuscript with modifications and changes based on the reviewers’ comments.
We send you the revised manuscript together with our point-by-point response.
The changes in the text were highlighted in yellow.
Thanking you in advance for your kind collaboration and suggestions.
Best regards,
The authors
Reviewer 2
This is an interesting study on cynara extract.
Revision needed:
The phrase on row 45 is not clear. Please reformulate it.
ANSWER: the phrase has been reformulated
In sample size section please add effect size to sample size calculation .
ANSWER: We have added the effect size
In tab 1 or in the results section please specify the gender distribution among the two groups.
ANSWER: We have specified gender distribution among the two groups in the text
Change definition of maximum and minimum blood pressure in Systolic and Diastolic
ANSWER: the words have been changed
In the result section add the compliance to the treatment: were all compliant? how many tab did they take in %?
ANSWER: Figure 1 presenting the patient flow chart has been added. Moreover, a new sentence has been added on tablets.
In the result section add the drop out % or specify that there were no dropout.
ANSWER: there were no dropout. This sentence has been added
Did the subjects have adverse effects? If no, please specify that nobody have AE.
ANSWER: no subject had any adverse events. The sentence was added in the results and taken up in the discussion
