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Schizophrenia is one of the most severely debilitating mental disorders that affects 1.1% of the world's population. The exact cause of the disease is not known, but genetics, environmental factors (such as infectious agents, season and region of birth, exposure to viruses, low birth weight, advanced paternal age, and tobacco), and immune system dysfunction can all contribute to the development of schizophrenia. Recently, the role of the immune system in schizophrenia has received much attention. Both acquired and innate immune systems are involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia and facilitate the disease's progression. Almost all cells of the immune system including microglia, B cells, and T cells play an important role in the blood-brain barrier damage, inflammation, and in the progression of this disease. In schizophrenia, the integrity of the blood-brain barrier is reduced and then the immune cells are recruited into the endothelium following an increase in the expression of cell adhesion molecules. The entry of immune cells and cytokines leads to inflammation and antibody production in the brain. Accordingly, the results of this study strengthen the hypothesis that the innate and acquired immune systems are involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia.

According to significant improvements in the tissue engineering field over the past several years, lung tissue cells have recently attracted more attention due to the high prevalence and diversity in related diseases. However, selection of an appropriate cell type, screening of suitable conditions for growth and proliferation, as well as subsequent implantation into the body to repair and regenerate damaged tissues are considered as important issues in this context. It should also be noted that most studies have been described in animal models, but not in humans. Because of the high regenerative capacity, predominant immunomodulatory feature, and inhibition of T-lymphocyte proliferation, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) may play an important role in the reconstruction of damaged tissues including bronchioles in pulmonary diseases. Interestingly, clinical trial studies demonstrated that MSCs have the significant potential to treat a wide variety of diseases including acute myocardial infarction (AMI), liver cirrhosis, crohn's disease, and graft-versus-host disease (GVHD).

Background and Objective: Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) is divided into two distinct genotypes, type I and type II, based on the structure of capsular polysaccharides. The capsulation locus of Haemophilus influenzae type b consists of three functionally distinct regions, designated regions 1 to 3. Region III contains hcsA and hcsB genes; however, notable sequence variation in this region can be used to recognize different Hib genotypes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence and genotype of the Hib strains isolated from patients with invasive disease in Iran., Materials and Methods: In the present study, 8 pairs of primers were used for identification and serotyping of encapsulated Haemophilus influenzae strains, as well as confirmation of species identification. Additionally, in order to identify the capsular genotypes of Haemophilus influenzae type b (type I and II), two additional primer pairs were used to amplify the hcsA gene., Results: Out of 50 isolates of H. influenzae, four were found to be type b. Interestingly, among these 4 Hib isolates, 2 strains belonged to the type-II category., Conclusion: Our study shows that the prevalence of both Hib types I and II seems to be high in Iran.