Risk factors of the appearance of anencephaly in Tunisia.

Introduction: Anencephaly is a serious developmental defect of the central nervous system in which the brain and cranial vault are grossly malformed. The cerebrum and cerebellum are reduced or absent, but the hindbrain is present. Anencephaly is a part of the neural tube defect spectrum.

Dietary intakes of essential nutrients among Arab and Berber ethnic groups on rural Tunisian island.

Objective: The dietary intake was investigated and food sources were identified among Tunisian ethnic groups from Jerba Island in the south of Tunisia.

Methods: Ninety-four subjects of moderate socioeconomic status (47 Berbers and 47 Arabs) aged 32 to 64 y completed a 1-mo qualitative food-frequency questionnaire and a single 24-h dietary recall, and dietary intakes and demographic status were observed from 2006 to 2007.

Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was not significantly associated with Arab men compared with Berber men.

The G1057D polymorphism of IRS-2 gene is not associated with type 2 diabetes and obese patients among ethnic groups in Tunisian population.

Background: Type 2 of diabetes is the most common metabolic disorder and results from the interaction between genetic and environmental factors. Insulin receptor substrate-2 (IRS-2), one of the major substrates of the insulin receptor, has a crucial role in insulin signalling and in beta cell development and survival. While several polymorphisms have been identified in the IRS-2 gene, the association of the Gly1057Asp polymorphism with type 2 diabetes has been studied in European and Chinese populations, but the results have been inconsistent.

Association of the insertion/deletion polymorphism of the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene with type 2 diabetes in two ethnic groups of Jerba Island in Tunisia.

Introduction: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the role of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism on the prediction of type 2 diabetes in two ethnic populations from Jerba Island,Tunisia.

Methods: In this study, we analysed the genotypic and the allelic distributions of the ACE I/D polymorphism and conducted a case/control association study between healthy normoglycaemic controls and diabetic patients in the two studied groups.ACE gene polymorphism was analysed by polymerase chain reaction in 272 individuals consisting of 172 diabetic subjects and 100 controls.