These results indicate that mutations in NLGN3 and NLGN4 genes are responsible for at most a small fraction of autism cases and additional screenings in other autistic populations are needed to better determine the frequency with which mutations in NLGN3 and NLGN4 occur in autism.
A recent study has implicated two X-chromosomal neuroligin genes, NLGN3 and NLGN4, as having an etiological role in autism, having identified a frameshift mutation in one gene and a substitution mutation in the other, segregating in multiplex autism spectrum families (Jamain et al.[2003: Nat Genet 34:27-29]).
The fact that the deletion was present in both autistic and nonautistic mentally retarded males suggests that the NLGN4 gene is not only involved in autism, as previously described, but also in mental retardation, indicating that some types of autistic disorder and mental retardation may have common genetic origins.