Tunisia. Supervising Tunisian Elections by civil society: How to improve it? Arab Citizenship Review No. 7. January 2015

Introduction. On October 26, 2014, Tunisia held its second democratic legislative elections. Participation among more than 5 million registered voters was at about 60%, a relatively good turnout for the country, compared to the 52% voters in 2011. Preliminary results for the 33 constituencies (27 within the country and 6 for expatriates) reveal that secular frontrunner Nidaa Tounes (Call of Tunisia) won around 37% percent of votes while moderate Islamist party Ennahdha, winner of the 2011 elections and leader of Tunisia’s post-revolution government, received 27% of votes. Other parties with notable percentages are the Free Patriotic Union (French: UPL) with 4.4% and the leftist party, Popular Front, with 3.7%. Legislative were immediately followed by two round presidential elections the first one held on November 23, the second one after one month. Conversely to what was expected, people were more attracted by presidential elections even though president has notably less prerogatives than the parliament: representing the state, he is mainly responsible for determining the general state policies in the domains of defense, foreign relations and national security (article 76.) This paradox is ascribed to national imaginary more confident in a “Zaïm” (leader) rather than a collective institution such as a parliament. The turnout was at about 64% within the national 27 constituencies. Out of 70 candidates (including 5 female), 27 (with only one female) met the legal requirements to run for the presidency. The result confirms the legislative trend and Beji Caid Essebsi, leader of Nidaa, was proclaimed the third President of Tunisia. He gained 39.46% of the votes at the first round elections. Essebsi was followed by Moncef Marzouki who received an unexpected score (33.43%) at the first round, thanks to the support of Ennahdha audience and to an active and insistent campaign focused on the idea that revolution is threatened by old regime guard “come-back.” Rewarded for his long militant live, the extreme leftist Hamma Hammami in a new look gained 7,8% of the votes while the new comer Slim Riahi received 5,5% despite rumors circulating on his personal reputation. Notably, Kalthoum Kennou gained 0,55% (18.287 votes) but listed eleventh out of 27.

Studies on the neurotoxicity of 6,7-dihydroxy-1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline (salsolinol) in SH-SY5Y cells

We have studied the hypothesis that 6,7-dihydroxy-1-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline (salsolinol) is neurotoxic. Salsolinol induced a significant time and dose related inhibition of 3[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide; thiazoyl blue (MTT) reduction, and increased lactate dehydrogenase release (LDH) release from human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, at concentrations within the range of 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) cytotoxicity, in vitro. Cytotoxicity was not inhibited by the addition of antioxidants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors or imipramine. In confluent monolayers, salsolinol stimulated catecholamine uptake with EC50 values of 17 muM and 11 muM, for noradrenaline and dopamine, respectively. Conversely, at concentrations above 100 muM, salsolinol inhibited the uptake of noradrenaline and dopamine, with IC50 values of 411 muM and 379 muM, respectively. The inhibition of catecholamine uptake corresponded to the increase displacement of [3H]nisoxetine from the uptake 1 site by salsolinol, as the Ki (353 muM) for displacement was similar to the IC50 (411 and 379 muM) for uptake. Salsolinol stimulated catecholamine uptake does not involve the uptake recognition site, or elevation of cAMP, cGMP, or inhibition of protein kinase C. Salsolinol also inhibited both carbachol (1 mM) and K+ (100 mM, Na+ adjusted) evoked released of noradrenaline from SH-SY5Y cells, with IC50 values of 500 muM and 120 muM, respectively. In conclusion, salsolinol appears to be cytotoxic to SH-SY5Y cells, via a mechanism that does not require uptake 1, bioactivation by monoamine oxidase, or membrane based free radical damage. The effects of salsolinol on catecholamine uptake, and the mechanism of toxicity require further investigation.

Development of a quality control material for the measurement of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine, an in vivo marker of oxidative stress, and comparison of results from different laboratories

The measurement of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2'-deoxyguanosine is an increasingly popular marker of in vivo oxidative damage to DNA. A random-sequence 21-mer oligonucleotide 5'-TCA GXC GTA CGT GAT CTC AGT-3' in which X was 8-oxo-guanine (8-oxo-G) was purified and accurate determination of the oxidised base was confirmed by a 32P-end labelling strategy. The lyophilised material was analysed for its absolute content of 8-oxo-dG by several major laboratories in Europe and one in Japan. Most laboratories using HPLC-ECD underestimated, while GC-MS-SIM overestimated the level of the lesion. HPLC-ECD measured the target value with greatest accuracy. The results also suggest that none of the procedures can accurately quantitate levels of 1 in 10(6) 8-oxo-(d)G in DNA.