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The study of Dermatoglyphics has a great importance in medical, judicial, criminal and anthropological research. Human dermatoglyphic traits present variations within and between populations. The purpose of this paper is to provide a descriptive analysis of digital dermatoglyphic traits in three Algerian populations and enrich the anthropogenetic database of this population. The current study was conducted on 315 healthy and consenting individuals, 228 (144 males and 84 females) from Oran, the second most important city in Algeria located in the northwest of the country, 46 Reguibates (20 males and 26 females), and 42 Zenata (16 males and 26 females). The results show that the most common descending order of pattern type frequencies for both hands in the three samples is Ulnar loop, Whorl, Arch, Radial loop. One exception is seen in the Reguibates sample that has an unusually high frequency of radial loop. The analysis of qualitative digital characters revealed bimanual differences in the three po...

The demographic history of human populations in North Africa has been characterized by complex processes of admixture and isolation that have modeled its current gene pool. Diverse genetic ancestral components with different origins (autochthonous, European, Middle Eastern, and sub-Saharan) and genetic heterogeneity in the region have been described. In this complex genetic landscape, Algeria, the largest country in Africa, has been poorly covered, with most of the studies using a single Algerian sample. In order to evaluate the genetic heterogeneity of Algeria, Y-chromosome, mtDNA and autosomal genome-wide makers have been analyzed in several Berber- and Arab-speaking groups. Our results show that the genetic heterogeneity found in Algeria is not correlated with geography or linguistics, challenging the idea of Berber groups being genetically isolated and Arab groups open to gene flow. In addition, we have found that external sources of gene flow into North Africa have been carried more often by females than males, while the North African autochthonous component is more frequent in paternally transmitted genome regions. Our results highlight the different demographic history revealed by different markers and urge to be cautious when deriving general conclusions from partial genomic information or from single samples as representatives of the total population of a region., This study was supported by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad grant CGL2013-44351-P and by Direcció General de Recerca, Generalitat de Catalunya grant 2014SGR866.

Objective There is strong evidence that genetic as well as environmental factors affect the development of periodontitis. Various studies suggest that genetic polymorphisms of the interleukin-1 (IL-1) genes are associated with an increased risk of developing the pathogenesis. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible relationship between two polymorphisms of IL-1 gene cluster IL-1B (C + 3954T) (rs1143634) and IL-1A (C − 889T) (rs1800587) SNPs and the aggressive and chronic periodontitis risk in a case control study in Algerian population. Methods 279 subjects were recruited and received a periodontal examination: 128 healthy controls and 151 cases. From cases, 91 patients were having a chronic disease whereas 60 subjects with aggressive form. All these subjects were genotyped for IL-1A (C − 889T) and IL-1B (C + 3954T) polymorphisms using TaqMan real time PCR technology. Frequencies of IL-1 alleles, genotypes and the haplotypes were also examined. Results Significant differences were found in the carriage rate of both minor alleles of the IL-1A (C − 889T) and IL-1B (C + 3954T) polymorphisms of aggressive periodontitis cases compared with healthy controls (OR [95%CI] = 1.61 [1.03–2.49], p = 0.03), (OR [95%CI] = 1.69 [1.09–2.63], p = 0.01), respectively. The result did not reach significance with the chronic form. Conclusion The studied polymorphisms of the IL-1 genes appear to be associated with susceptibility to aggressive periodontitis (AgP) in the Algerian population.