Barley Vinegar Relieves Loperamide-Induced Constipation in Mice via the Modulation of the Gut Microbiota and Serum Metabolism

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The manuscript is interesting and has adequate information. However, statistical analysis is lacking. The authors must indicate which test for homogeneity of variances was performed. There are data that require non-parametric statistics such as gene analyses. The authors report correlations in the results, but do not cite the evidence in the methodology. It is necessary to separate the statistical analyzes by sections and include a statistical model

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear authors, 

thank you very much for this precious submission. I find this paper very interesting and also very detailed. Even if it is complex is very easy to understand and the scientific implications that can be glimpsed are of strong impact.

However I kindly ask to improve the figures;

Fig. 4 A/B 

Please try to improve the quality of these figures, I really love the impact of your results but it could be hard for the reader appreciate them. 

Fig. 9

Please improve the quality of the images, considering your efforts and the heavy statistic that you have performed we can present better your results. 

Discussion/Results

Are very complex and very detailed, I found the discussion very well composed. Maybe it is even too much detailed, especially the result section. 

First obstervation: The passage could benefit from a more concise and explicit conclusion that summarizes the key findings and their implications. What are the main takeaways from this research, and how might they be applied or further investigated?

Second observation: What could be the implications for human health? What parallels could be drawn between your work and a possible human treatment?

Third observation: What are the future prospects and next studies? 

Please write again the conclusion to answer to this questions in the best way, cause these results can advice different future prospectives. 

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf