BCN is the official Publication of Neuroscience Departments of Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. BCN is an international multidisciplinary journal that publishes editorials, original full‐length research articles, short communications, reviews, methodological papers, commentaries, perspectives and “news and reports” in the broad fields of developmental, molecular, cellular, systems, computational, behavioral, cognitive, and clinical neurosciences. Manuscripts submitted to BCN should describe novel results generated by experiments that were guided by clearly defined aims or hypotheses and should not have appeared or submitted to any other journals. BCN’s aim is to provide serious ties in interdisciplinary communication, accessibility to a broad readership internationally, effective peer review process, and independence from all possible non scientific interests. BCN also tries to empower national, regional and international collaborative networks in the field of neuroscience and to be the voice of the Iranian and regional neuroscience community in the world of neuroscientists. BCN is a new journal dedicated to neuroscience field which intends to become an indexed and cited peer reviewed journal and to meet its quality standards in near future. To achieve this aim, BCN asks for support from all Iranian Neuroscientists doing research around the word in submitting manuscripts in all aspects of neuroscience research. We need your comments and valuable inputs. We are also asking Iranian Neuroscientists who are principle investigators to nominate as reviewers and/or editors in the different areas of neuroscience in BCN.

Background: Asthma is considered to be a chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways. Probiotics are living microorganisms that are found in the human gut and have protective effects against a wide range of diseases such as allergies. The aim of this study was to investigate the improvement of clinical asthma symptoms and changes in the expression pattern of selective microRNAs in patients with asthma and the changes in IL-4 and IFN-γ plasma levels after receiving probiotics. Materials and methods: The present study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial that enrolled 40 asthmatic patients. They were treated with probiotics or placebo: 1 capsule/day for 8 weeks. Pulmonary function tests, IL-4 and IFN-γ levels, and expression of microRNAs were assessed at baseline and after treatment. Results: The results showed that the expression of miR-16, miR146-a and IL-4 levels in patients with asthma after receiving probiotic supplementation was significantly reduced and miR-133b expression was increased. In addition, pulmonary function tests showed a significant improvement in Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 s and Forced Vital Capacity after receiving probiotics. Conclusion: In our study, 8-week treatment with probiotic supplementation led to reduced Th2 cells-associated IL-4 and improved Forced Expiratory Volume and Forced Vital Capacity. It appears probiotics can be used in addition to common asthma treatments.

Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (Ad-MSCs) have been reported to suppress the effector T cell responses and have beneficial effects on various immune disorders, like rheumatoid arthritis (RA). This study was designed to investigate the effects of co-cultured Ad-MSCs on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of RA patients and healthy individuals, through assessing transcription factors of T cell subsets. PBMCs from RA patients and healthy donors were co-cultured with Ad-MSCs with or without Phytohaemagglutinin (PHA). The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to measure the expression of T-box 21 (T-bet), GATA-binding protein-3 (GATA3), retinoid-related orphan receptor γt (ROR-γt) and forkhead box P3 (Foxp3). Based on the results, Ad-MSCs greatly upregulated Th2 and Treg cell transcription factors, i.e., GATA3 and Foxp3 (p<0.05), and downregulated Th1 and Th17 transcription factors, i.e., T-bet and RORγt (p<0.05). These results demonstrate that Ad-MSCs can result in an immunosuppressive environment through inhibition of pro-inflammatory T cells and induction of T cells with a regulatory phenotype. Therefore, they might have important clinical implications for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases such as RA.

Baharlou R, et al. Immune Netw. 2014 Jun;14(3):156-163. https://doi.org/10.4110/in.2014.14.3.156