ABSTRACT
Background and objective: Maturity-onset diabetes of the young 12 (MODY12) is a form of early-onset type 2 diabetes, which is transmitted in an autosomal dominant mode. It has clinical features similar to MODY1 and MODY3. The aim of this study is to screen for mutations in ABCC8 gene in six Tunisian patients suspected of MODY12 using Sanger sequencing. Methods: Six probands, with diabetes in 2-3 generations and found previously negative for mutations in HNF1A, HNF4A, INS, IPF1 and NEUROD1, were screened for known mutations in ABCC8 gene using Sanger sequencing. A comparison of the clinical features of our patients with MODY12 cohorts of other studies was also performed using ANOVA test. Results: The six patients were diagnosed with overt diabetes (fasting glycemia: 12.85 ± 3.5 mmol/l, HbA1c: 12.51 ± 2.58%) at mean age of 25.16 ± 5.11 years. They had a BMI mean equal to 26.7 ± 5.9 kg/m2. The majority of the patients were initially treated with OHA or on diet. Some of them converted to insulin therapy. Although, the comparison of our cohort with other MODY12 cohorts showed no significant difference in age at diagnostic and HbA1c, molecular analysis showed only two synonymous non-pathological polymorphisms rs1799857 and rs1805036. Conclusion: Our study highlighted the clinical and genetic heterogeneity of familial earlyonset diabetes in the Tunisian population, which is concordant with previous studies Thus, the need for using nextgeneration sequencing technologies to determine the aetiology of these forms of diabetes.
ABSTRACT
Gallstone disease is one of the major surgical problems in the Libyan population; it is probably related to diet; especially excessive consumption of meat. The study was conducted to determine the composition of gallstones and their possible etiology in a Libyan population. The chemical composition of gallstones from 41 patients (six males and 35 females) was analyzed. The stones were classified into cholesterol; pigment; and mixed stones (MS). Cholesterol stones (CS) showed a significantly higher cholesterol content than pigment stones (PS) (p=0.0085) though not significantly higher than MS. Their phospholipid content and inorganic phosphates were higher than in the other types of stones and oxalate content was significantly elevated in comparison with MS (p=0.0471). In MS; the cholesterol; bile acids; and bilirubin were intermediate between cholesterol and PS; whereas triglycerides were significantly more than PS (p=0.0004). Bilirubin (0.0001) and bile acids (p=0.0009) were significantly higher than CS (p=0.0001). However; they contained the lowest amounts of sodium; potassium; magnesium; and oxalate. In PS; bilirubin (p=0.0001) was significantly higher than both groups. Bile acid content was significantly higher than CS (p=0.0001) but not significantly more than MS. They showed the highest values of calcium; sodium; potassium; magnesium; and chlorides compared to the other types of stones. High levels of cholesterol in stones and dyslipidemia associated with mixed as well as cholesterol gallstones suggest an etiological association and efforts to reduce dietary fat among the Libyan population may lead to decreased cholesterol and mixed gallstones