The Human Microbiome as a Therapeutic Target for Metabolic Diseases
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsIn this work, author introduced the human microbiome as therapeutic target for metabolic disease. This is an interesting topic. There are some questions need to solved before publication:
1. In the section 3 "Altered Microbiota in Metabolic Diseases ", a illustrate or figure should be drawn and to present the relationship between gut microbiota and metabolic diseases.
2. Among these metabolic disorders (including T2D, obesity, MASLD, and so on), is there a commonality or trend in the changes of gut microbiota or the specific bacteria, which could provide valuable insights for targeted therapies in subsequent treatments?
3. In the section 4 "The Human Microbiome as Therapeutic Target to Improve Metabolic Health ", I missed the introduction of MASLD, which is also closely related with gut microbiota and gut barrier.
4. In the line 227-234 on section 5, Faecalibacterium praunitzii were mentioned for IBD treatment, however, IBD may not belong to metabolic diseases, please correct.
5. Generally, "via" should be presented using italic, please go through manuscript and revise it.
6. In line 325, the abbreviation of Short chain fatty acids should be SCFAs generally, please correct it in manuscript.
7. The limitations of using microbiome as therapeutic target for metabolic diseases should be presented in section 7, such as using live or die bacteria to treatment, or how choose the treatment doses.
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageModerate editing of English language required
Author Response
In this work, author introduced the human microbiome as therapeutic target for metabolic disease. This is an interesting topic. There are some questions need to solved before publication:
Comment 1: In the section 3 "Altered Microbiota in Metabolic Diseases ", a illustrate or figure should be drawn and to present the relationship between gut microbiota and metabolic diseases.
Response 1: The author has included a figure illustrating the difference of the microbiome between healthy versus metabolic diseases including obesity, T2D and MASLD in the revised manuscript.
Comment 2: Among these metabolic disorders (including T2D, obesity, MASLD, and so on), is there a commonality or trend in the changes of gut microbiota or the specific bacteria, which could provide valuable insights for targeted therapies in subsequent treatments?
Response 2: Despite the large discrepancy of the microbiome composition between individuals, it has become clear that the abundance of butyrate producing species and Akkermansia muciniphila was reduced in obese and T2D subjects discussed in the text and the additional figure while clear associations between these species with MASLD have not been reported yet. As obesity is a risk factor for MASLD, it is plausible that supplementation of butyrate/producing species and A. muciniphila may be beneficial in MASLD. This discussion has been included in the legend of the added figure as Figure 2 in the revised manuscript. Please see highlighted lines156-158 and 181-188.
Comment 3: In the section 4 "The Human Microbiome as Therapeutic Target to Improve Metabolic Health ", I missed the introduction of MASLD, which is also closely related with gut microbiota and gut barrier.
Response 3: The author has added the introduction of MASLD with a recent FMT clinical trial for MASLD and discussed the gut homeostasis in MASLD in the revised manuscript. Please see highlighted lines in 228, 235, 248-253.
Comment 4: In the line 227-234 on section 5, Faecalibacterium praunitzii were mentioned for IBD treatment, however, IBD may not belong to metabolic diseases, please correct.
Response 4: It is correct that IBD is not considered as a type of metabolic diseases but subjects with metabolic diseases are often observed to have intestinal and systemic inflammation caused by disrupted intestinal epithelial barrier. Thereby, bacteria that are beneficial in IBD and can be used to reduce inflammation may be beneficial in metabolic diseases. Nevertheless, it may cause some confusion, hence the author agrees to leave out F. praunitzii from the text (line 322) and also the table in the revised manuscript.
Comment 5: Generally, "via" should be presented using italic, please go through manuscript and revise it.
Response 5: The author thanks the reviewer for the correction. This has been corrected thorough the revised manuscript.
Comment 6: In line 325, the abbreviation of Short chain fatty acids should be SCFAs generally, please correct it in manuscript.
Response 6: The author thanks the reviewer for the correction. This has been corrected in the revised manuscript. See highlighted text from 429-469.
Comment 7: The limitations of using microbiome as therapeutic target for metabolic diseases should be presented in section 7, such as using live or die bacteria to treatment, or how choose the treatment doses.
Response 7: The author thanks the reviewer for the correction. The author has added this in the “conclusion and future perspectives” in the revised version of the manuscript. See lines 510-512.
Reviewer 2 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe reviewer acknowledges the authors of the manuscript entitled "The human microbiome as therapeutic target for metabolic diseases". This is a review on a relevant topic nowadays and covering a good range of the aspects to be reviewed under that thematic. on an overall revision the reviewer as to state that some spelling mistakes can be found on the manuscript, as well as phrases constructing or incorrect English usage. the reviewer start to point the grammar and writing alterations to be made:
line 36: should be "overuse of processed food" instead of "overuse of process food"
line 41 to line 47: references should be added to support that information
line 174 to line 175: " transfers of undesired components from fecal material" is repeated
table 1: definition of GLP1 and BMI should be added similar to what was done for IBD
line 227 and 228: something is missing to link the 2 ideas written on this sentence
line 245: should be "plant-based diets"
line 384 to 386: sentence is not correctly written, maybe authors would like to say: "due to the rapid rise in incidence and prevalence of metabolic disorders including obesity, type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, there is an urgent need of effective therapeutic options for preventing disease progression"
Additionally the reviewer would like to see some more recent literature to be used on this review like the clinical trial described in the manuscript with the doi: 10.7717/peerj.17583, the review with the doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2024-332398 and some literature described on it or the manuscript with the doi: 10.3390/antiox13060746.
Finally, this reviewer would like again to acknowledge the authors of this manuscript for the effort on revising this thematic.
Comments on the Quality of English Language
Some minor editing should be made on the English usage and on the sentences construction according to the suggestions that the reviewer left for the authors.
Author Response
The reviewer acknowledges the authors of the manuscript entitled "The human microbiome as therapeutic target for metabolic diseases". This is a review on a relevant topic nowadays and covering a good range of the aspects to be reviewed under that thematic. on an overall revision the reviewer as to state that some spelling mistakes can be found on the manuscript, as well as phrases constructing or incorrect English usage. the reviewer start to point the grammar and writing alterations to be made:
Comment 1: line 36: should be "overuse of processed food" instead of "overuse of process food"
Response 1: This has been corrected in the revised version of the manuscript. See line 77.
Comment 2: line 41 to line 47: references should be added to support that information
Response 2: The author assumes the reviewer meant 81-87 for the missing references. The author has added references to these statements in the revised version of the manuscript. Please see line 81 and 84.
Comment 3: line 174 to line 175: " transfers of undesired components from fecal material" is repeated
Response 3: The author apologises for this duplication. The duplicated text has been removed from the revised manuscript. See lines 253-255.
Comment 4: table 1: definition of GLP1 and BMI should be added similar to what was done for IBD
Response 4: The author has added the definition of GLP1 and BMI to the table legend.
Comment 5: line 227 and 228: something is missing to link the 2 ideas written on this sentence
Response 5: A sentence has been added at the beginning of the paragraph and the following sentence has been rephrased. Please see lines 242-245
Comment 6: line 245: should be "plant-based diets"
Response 6: The author assumes the reviewer meant the mis-spelling in line 316. This has been corrected in the revised manuscript. See line 335.
Comment 7: line 384 to 386: sentence is not correctly written, maybe authors would like to say: "due to the rapid rise in incidence and prevalence of metabolic disorders including obesity, type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, there is an urgent need of effective therapeutic options for preventing disease progression"
Response 7: The author thanks the reviewer for pointing out this typo-mistake. The sentence has been corrected in the revised manuscript. See lines 497-499.
Comment 8: Additionally the reviewer would like to see some more recent literature to be used on this review like the clinical trial described in the manuscript with the doi: 10.7717/peerj.17583, the review with the doi:10.1136/gutjnl-2024-332398 and some literature described on it or the manuscript with the doi: 10.3390/antiox13060746.
Response 8: The author thanks the reviewer for the suggestion. Although 3 suggested papers are of interest, the study design of the clinical trial is still questionable and the link between hydrogen-rich coral calcium and the modification of the microbiome to induce MASLD was far-fetched. Therefore, the author only added the review on MASLD and another FMT study in MASLD in the revised manuscript in lines 248-252. The author hopes the reviewer would understand.
Comment 9: Finally, this reviewer would like again to acknowledge the authors of this manuscript for the effort on revising this thematic.
Response 9: Thank you for your acknowledgement.
Reviewer 3 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsI congratulate the author for the work
The topic is very interesting and current
The paper is well written and only some minor corrections are due
Figures are nice
These are my comments that I hope can improve the paper
line 29-30 missing reference
line 71-72 the sentence about increase in transit time is not correct
line 94 please correct "refine" with "refined"
line 154-157 please add a reference
lne 261-262 please rephrase "toxic compounds with high cardiometabolic risks "
line 305 in this paragraph about tryptophan, please add some examples of bacteria able to convert it to I3P and tryptamine
line 366 please correct the double space
line 384-386 please reformulate the sentence
Comments on the Quality of English LanguageEnglish language is fine and only some corrections are required
Author Response
I congratulate the author for the work
The topic is very interesting and current
The paper is well written and only some minor corrections are due
Figures are nice
These are my comments that I hope can improve the paper
Comment 1: line 29-30 missing reference
Response 1: The ref has been added. See line 76
Comment 2: line 71-72 the sentence about increase in transit time is not correct
Response 2: The sentence has been modified. See highlighted lines 112-114.
Comment 3: line 94 please correct "refine" with "refined"
Response3: This has been corrected in the revised manuscript. See line 142.
Comment 4: line 154-157 please add a reference
Response 4: The author assumes the reviewer asked for the references of the statement written in lines 199-201 which has been included in the revised manuscript.
Comment 5: line 261-262 please rephrase "toxic compounds with high cardiometabolic risks "
Response 5: It has been rephrased as “harmful compounds associated with high cardiometabolic risks”. See highlighted text in lines 353-355.
Comment 6: line 305 in this paragraph about tryptophan, please add some examples of bacteria able to convert it to I3P and tryptamine
Response 6: The author thanks the reviewer for the suggestion. Examples of bacteria for tryptophan conversion to I3P and tryptamine have been added. Please see highlighted text in lines 408-411.
Comment 7: line 366 please correct the double space
Response 7: corrected
Comment 8: line 384-386 please reformulate the sentence
Response 8: The sentence has been rephrased in highlighted text (lines 487-488) in the revised manuscript.
Reviewer 4 Report
Comments and Suggestions for AuthorsThe review is informative and well-summarised with the latest information on the subject matter.
Just one suggestion, please provide the details of the service used for image preparation as acknowledgement.
Author Response
The review is informative and well-summarised with the latest information on the subject matter.
Comment 1 Just one suggestion, please provide the details of the service used for image preparation as acknowledgement.
Response 1 The author has added Biorender.com in the acknowledgment.
