The first large-scale fine characterization of Tunisian H lineages clarifies that the post-Last glacial maximum expansion originating in Iberia not only led to the resettlement of Europe but also of North Africa. We found that 46% of 81 Tunisian H lineages subscreened for 1,580 bp in mtDNA coding region were affiliated with H1 and H3 subhaplogroups, which are known to have originated in Iberia. Although no signs of local expansion were detected, which would allow a clear dating of their introduction, the younger and less diverse Tunisian H1 and H3 lineages indicate Iberia as the radiating centre. Major contributions from historical migrations to this Iberian genetic imprint in Tunisia were ruled out by the mtDNA gene pool similarity between Berber/Arab/cosmopolitan samples and some "Andalusian" communities, settled by the descendents of the "Moors" who once lived in Iberia for 10 centuries (between 8th and 17th centuries), before being expelled to Tunisia.

Aging is often associated with a loss of function. We believe aging to be more an adaptation to the various, and often continuous, stressors encountered during life in order to maintain overall functionality of the systems. The maladaptation of a system during aging may increase the susceptibility to diseases. There are basic cellular functions that may influence and/or are influenced by aging. Mitochondrial function is amongst these. Their presence in almost all cell types makes of these valuable targets for interventions to slow down or even reserve signs of aging. In this review, the role of mitochondria and essential physiological regulators of mitochondria and cellular functions, ion channels, will be discussed in the context of human aging. The origins of inflamm-aging, associated with poor clinical outcomes, will be linked to mitochondria and ion channel biology.

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We investigated the association between six common and novel interleukin-6 (IL-6) polymorphisms with the risk of cervical cancer (CC) among Tunisians. Study subjects comprised 112 CC cases and 164 control women. Genotyping of IL-6 rs2069845, rs2069840, rs1474348, rs1800795, rs1800797, rs2069827 variants was done by real-time PCR, with defined clusters. The allelic and genotypic distributions of the tested IL-6 SNPs were comparable between CC patients and control women. Stratification according to FIGO staging revealed that rs1800795 homozygous major allele genotype (P = 0.033; OR =0.49(0.25-0.95)) and major allele (P = 0.037; OR = 0.57 (0.33-0.97)) were protective of CC. Moreover, carriage of rs1474348 major allele was also protective of CC (P = 0.014; OR = 0.53(0.32-0.88)), while higher rs1474348 minor allele frequency was seen in CC patients with early FIGO stage (P = 0.044; OR = 0.39 (0.15-1.00)), thus implicating rs1474348 in CC evolution and progression of angiogenesis. Haploview analysis demonstrated high linkage disequilibrium (LD) between rs2069845, rs2069840, rs1474348 and rs1800795, and 6-locus haplotype analysis identified GACCCA haplotype to be positively associated with increased CC, while GAGGGG haplotype was negatively associated with CC, thus suggesting a protective role for this haplotype in CC. Furthermore, there was a significant association between the incidence of CC and the use hormonal contraception (P = 0.047; OR = 1.97 (0.94-4.13)) and smoking (P < 0.001; OR = 7.12 (2.97-17.04)). The IL-6 variants rs1800795 and rs1474348, and haplotypes GACCCA and GAGGGG, along with use of hormonal contraceptives and smoking, are major risk factors of CC susceptibility and evolution among Tunisian women.