PONE-D-21-19523Molecular characterization of xerosis cutis: a systematic reviewPLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Amin,

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This study was supported by Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, Clinical Research Center for Hair and Skin Science, Germany. RA receives scholarship from ‘Bangabandhu Science and Technology Fellowship trust, Ministry of Science and Technology, Bangladesh’ to conduct his doctoral study in Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of this manuscript.

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This study was supported by Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology, Clinical Research Center for Hair and Skin Science, Germany. RA receives scholarship from ‘Bangabandhu Science and Technology Fellowship trust, Ministry of Science and Technology, Bangladesh’ to conduct his doctoral study in Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of this manuscript.

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Additional Editor Comments:

This review about xerosis cutis biomarkers is of potential value for cosmetic but also pharmaceutic and basic research. The review seems to be comprehensive. I have few minor points, as follows.

- Please use systematically the more accurate term to define the particular form of xerosis cutis you are speaking about (senile xerosis, drug induced xerosis, general skin dryness, etc.); without this precision in mind, miss-interpretations of the data could occur. For example, line 214, § “Ceramide-EOS, -NH and –EOH, the term xerosis cutis is not enough precise. May be a paragraph specifically dedicated to the description fo xerosis cutis forms would be informative.

- It would probably be better to use the term “carboxylic acids” (plural) when a particular carboxylic acid is not looked for, e.g., line 309.

- line 286, please change “the is” to ‘there is”.

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Reviewer #1: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: N/A

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Reviewer #1: No

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Reviewer #1: Yes

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Reviewer #1: This is an interesting systematic review. I think it would be useful to include the keywords used in the search in the main paper as this is key. In general legs are drier than forearms. It might be interesting to comment in the discussion on any differences observed between studies where leg skin was used versus arm skin. For completion, the PROSPERO details should be included in the supplementary data.

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Reviewer #1: No

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Molecular characterization of xerosis cutis: a systematic review

PONE-D-21-19523R1

Dear Dr. Amin,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Kind regards,

Michel Simon, Ph. D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

The Authors satisfactorily answered the last questions of Reviewer and Academic Editor, and followed their modification requirements.

Reviewers' comments: