RETRACTED: Abou-Donia et al. Sex-Based Differences in Plasma Autoantibodies to Central Nervous System Proteins in Gulf War Veterans versus Healthy and Symptomatic Controls. Brain Sci. 2021, 11, 148

The Brain Sciences Editorial Office retracts the article, “Sex-Based Differences in Plasma Autoantibodies to Central Nervous System Proteins in Gulf War Veterans versus Healthy and Symptomatic Controls” [1], cited above.

Following its publication, concerns were brought to the attention of the Editorial Office by a representative from Duke University and the surviving co-authors regarding the validity of the findings of this publication [1], due to concerns related to the Western Blot images in a connected publication [2].

Adhering to our complaints procedure, an investigation was conducted by the Editorial Office and Editorial Board. Based on the review by Duke University of the article’s findings, the co-authors have requested a retraction due to concerns about their ability to rely on the Western Blot images and produce verified, reliable results. The Editorial Board evaluated the correspondence from the co-authors and the Institution and decided that the findings of this article were heavily reliant on [2], consequently deciding to retract this article [1] as per MDPI’s retraction policy (https://www.mdpi.com/ethics#_bookmark30, accessed on 28 May 2024) and in line with the Committee on Publication Ethics retraction guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/retraction-guidelines, accessed on 28 May 2024).

This retraction was approved by the Editor-in-Chief of the journal Brain Sciences.

The authors have agreed to this retraction.