ArticlePLoS genetics2016
Pleiotropic Mechanisms Indicated for Sex Differences in Autism.
Article in PLoS genetics, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 52 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
52 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 89 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sex-stratified genome-wide association study of multisite chronic pain in UK Biobank.PLoS genetics · 2021Pooled it
- The prenatal sex steroid theory of autism after 25 years.Nature human behaviour · 2026Review
- Sex Differences in the role of Additive Genetic Variants in Autism: A Systematic Review.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
- The Role of Long Non-Coding RNA in Anxiety Disorders: A Literature Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Contribution of autosomal rare and de novo variants to sex differences in autism.American journal of human genetics · 2025Article
- Chromosome X-wide common variant association study in autism spectrum disorder.American journal of human genetics · 2025Article
- Decoding the genetic landscape of autism: A comprehensive review.World journal of clinical pediatrics · 2024Article
- Chromosome X-Wide Common Variant Association Study (XWAS) in Autism Spectrum Disorder.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- Multivariate genetic architecture reveals testosterone-driven sexual antagonism in contemporary humans.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- Review
- Fetal brain growth and infant autistic traits.Molecular autism · 2024Article
- Leveraging sex-genetic interactions to understand brain disorders: recent advances and current gaps.Brain communications · 2024Review
- Sex Differences in Brain Disorders.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023Review
- Review
- The genetics of autism and steroid-related traits in prenatal and postnatal life.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
- Interactions of genetic risks for autism and the broad autism phenotypes.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Modeling sex differences in humans using isogenic induced pluripotent stem cells.Stem cell reports · 2022Article
- Can the "female protective effect" liability threshold model explain sex differences in autism spectrum disorder?Neuron · 2022Review
- Sex-heterogeneous SNPs disproportionately influence gene expression and health.PLoS genetics · 2022Article
- Sex-Dependent Shared and Nonshared Genetic Architecture Across Mood and Psychotic Disorders.Biological psychiatry · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
16 authors at 7 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Sexual dimorphism in common disease is pervasive, including a dramatic male preponderance in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Potential genetic explanations include a liability threshold model requiring increased polymorphism risk in females, sex-limited X-chromosome contribution, gene-environment interaction driven by differences in hormonal milieu, risk influenced by genes sex-differentially expressed in early brain development, or contribution from general mechanisms of sexual dimorphism shared with secondary sex characteristics. Utilizing a large single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) dataset, we identify distinct sex-specific genome-wide significant loci. We investigate genetic hypotheses and find no evidence for increased genetic risk load in females, but evidence for sex heterogeneity on the X chromosome, and contribution of sex-heterogeneous SNPs for anthropometric traits to ASD risk. Thus, our results support pleiotropy between secondary sex characteristic determination and ASDs, providing a biological basis for sex differences in ASDs and implicating non brain-limited mechanisms.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.