Here we investigated the association of POL1-nearby variant rs488846, MALT1-nearby variant rs2874116, MC4R-nearby variant rs1942872, PHLPP rs9958800 and DSEL-nearby variant rs9966483 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 18q region, previously linked with DN in African-Americans, with T2DM in (North African) Tunisian subjects, followed by their association with DN, which was performed subsequent to the analysis of the association with T2DM.