Transcription factor-7-like 2 gene variants are strongly associated with type 2 diabetes in Tunisian Arab subjects.

Genome-wide association studies validated transcription factor 7-like 2 (TCF7L2) gene as confirmed type 2 diabetes (T2DM) susceptibility locus, and an ethnic contribution of TCF7L2 variants to T2DM risk was indicated. The aim of this study was to replicate in a Tunisian Arab population identified associations of common TCF7L2 variants with T2DM. We tested the association of TCF7L2 variants: rs4506565, rs7903146, rs12243326, and rs12255372, with T2DM in 900 Tunisian patients and 875 control subjects. TCF7L2 genotyping was done by allelic discrimination/real-time PCR method. Minor allele frequencies of rs4506565 (P=2.4×10(-8)), rs7903146 (P=1.2×10(-6)), rs12243326 (P=8.4×10(-8)) and rs12255372 (P=1.1×10(-5)) were significantly higher in cases. The four tested TCF7L2 variants were in linkage disequilibrium, and 4-locus (rs4506565, rs7903146, rs12243326, rs12255372) haplotype analysis demonstrated that haplotype 1111 was negatively associated (Pc<0.001), while haplotypes 2222 (Pc=0.008) and 2211 (Pc=0.020) were positively associated with T2DM risk, after controlling for a number of covariates. The strong contribution of TCF7L2 gene variants to T2DM among Tunisians is in line with similar findings in other ethnic groups, confirming TCF7L2 as a common T2DM candidate gene.