Medical Hypotheses
Volume 66, Issue 1 , Page 214, 2006

Erratum to “Serotonergic paradoxes of autism replicated in a simple mathematical model [Med Hypotheses 64 (2005) 742–750]”

Department of Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine, P.O. Box 208001, New Haven, CT 06520-8001, USA

Received 4 August 2005; accepted 15 August 2005. published online 04 October 2005.

Article Outline

 

This article has introduced a novel approach to the hyperserotonemia of autism and has become the theoretical foundation of a major follow-up publication [1*]. The author regrets several errors and inaccuracies in that were left in the published text:

1.Page 743, left column, paragraph 2: The last sentence should read: “While statistical analyses of the platelet 5-HT levels in SERT polymorphic variants have yielded somewhat inconsistent results [12,14–16], studies have found no linkage between SERT polymorphisms and autism [12,15]”. Two other reports [2*], [3*] can be added to support this statement.

2.Page 743, footnote 2: The given differential equations are irrelevant for understanding the stability of the system described by equations (1). It can be shown that this system is stable, if 0⩽α<[C(2−γ)]/[P(1−γ)].

3.Page 744, right column, paragraph 2: If actual clinical data are used to optimize the values of the parameters, the normal α turns out to be 0.08–0.16 and the autistic α becomes virtually zero. See [1*] for more details.

4.Page 744, Table 2, last column: rows 2, 4, and 6 should read “if γ>γ*” ((1−γ)F is in row 1).

5.Page 747, left column, paragraph 1, lines 10–14 should read: “autism [13], recent studies have failed to find linkage between SERT gene variants and autism [12,15]. Similarly, no linkage has been found between polymorphisms of MAO-A and autism [41,42]”. Two other reports can be added [2*], [3*] to support the first statement.

6.Page 747, left column: The last sentence is incorrect. The relationship between (1−γ)F and R=γF is linear for a fixed α. However, the measured correlation between platelet 5-HT levels and urinary 5-HIAA levels should be close to zero in an autistic group, as discussed in detail in [1*].

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References 

  1. Janušonis S. Statistical distribution of blood serotonin as a predictor of early autistic brain abnormalities. Theor Biol Med Model. 2005;2:27
  2. Persico AM, Militerni R, Bravaccio C, et al. Lack of association between serotonin transporter gene promoter variants and autistic disorder in two ethnically distinct samples. Am J Med Genet. 2000;96:123–127
  3. Wu S, Guo Y, Jia M, et al. Lack of evidence for association between the serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) polymorphisms and autism in the Chinese trios. Neurosci Lett. 2005;381:1–5

PII: S0306-9877(05)00420-2

doi:10.1016/j.mehy.2005.08.024

Refers to article:

  • Serotonergic paradoxes of autism replicated in a simple mathematical model , 14 December 2004

    Skirmantas Janušonis
    Medical Hypotheses 2005 (Vol. 64, Issue 4, Pages 742-750)

Medical Hypotheses
Volume 66, Issue 1 , Page 214, 2006

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