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The establishment of a continuous line of human gingival epithelial cells with functional characteristics of the epithelial barrier provides a valuable in vitro model for using to study the early steps of gingival/periodontal infections.

Three winter wheat varieties with differing breadmaking quality were grown at two locations in two years at 0 or 3 × 60 kg of nitrogen application. The effect of nitrogen on amount of different components of gluten proteins was determined by reverse‐phase HPLC. A high amount of nitrogen led generally to a significant increase of total protein content. However, this increase was obvious only for the gluten proteins; albumins and globulins remained nearly unaffected. The effect of increased protein content on gliadin to glutenin (gli‐glu) ratio was inconsistent. While increased protein content increased the gli‐glu ratio in the variety Capo, the opposite was true for the variety Renan. Gli‐glu ratio of the variety Lindos showed no discernible tendency. As total protein content increased, the ratio of low molecular weight (LMW) to high molecular weight (HMW) glutenins decreased consistently, i.e., in all varieties, in both years and locations. Change of LMW to HMW ratio showed a significant negative correlation to sedimentation value and bread volume. There was no consistent change in the ratio between x‐ and y‐type HMW subunits due to fertilization, as could be shown by densitometric measurements on SDS‐PAGE gels. This ratio appeared to be dependent on the genotype and has decreased with decreasing quality. The amount of x‐type subunits correlated closely with sedimentation value and bread volume. These results suggest that ratio of HMW glutenins, especially x‐type subunits, to total protein content could be the best early detectable parameter with high predictive value for breadmaking quality.

The role of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in the pathogenesis of aggressive periodontitis has not been previously examined. The aim of this study was to analyse the expression and production of IL-2, IFN-γ, IL-4 and IL-13 in CD4+ cells from the peripheral blood of patients with aggressive periodontitis (AgP) and periodontally healthy controls. Gene expression was analysed in inactivated and activated CD4+ cells by real-time PCR. Cells were activated for 4, 8 and 24 h with anti-CD3/CD28 antibody, phytohemagglutinin (PHA), and Porphyromonas gingivalis (P.g.) outer membrane protein (OMP). Protein levels were measured in supernatants of activated CD4+ cells by bead-based immunoassay (CBA). Statistics were performed using U test (p < 0.05). In controls, IL-4 expression was increased in inactivated CD4+ cells (p = 0.05), and IFN-γ and IL-2 expressions were increased in activated CD4+ cells: IFN-γ with anti-CD3/anti-CD28, P.g. OMP and PHA (p < 0.05); IL-2 with P.g. OMP and PHA (p < 0.05). In patients, although IL-4 and IL-13 expressions were higher in activated CD4+ cells, there were no differences compared to controls. The production of IL-4 and IL-2 was higher in the patients' CD4+ cells activated with PHA (p < 0.05). Although the results showed a predominantly Th1 mRNA profile in activated CD4+ cells of controls, protein concentrations showed no clear Th1 or Th2 profiles. The functional pathways of the Th cell immune response in aggressive periodontitis are still not well understood in order to develop individualised diagnostic and treatment plans.

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