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Even most commonly consumed beverages like tea, coffee, chocolate and cocoa contain methylxanthines, biogenic amines and polyphenols, among them catechins, that exhibit significant biological activity and might profoundly affect the organism homeostasis. We have previously shown that 400 mg of bitter chocolate or 6 mg of theobromine added to the daily diet of pregnant and afterwards lactating mice affected embryonic angiogenesis and caused bone mineralization disturbances as well as limb shortening in 4-weeks old offspring. The aim of the present study was the morphometric and functional evaluation of kidneys in the 4-weeks old progeny mice fed according to the protocol mentioned above. Progeny from the mice fed chocolate presented considerable morphometric abnormalities in the kidney structure, with the lower number of glomeruli per mm2 and their increased diameter. Moreover, higher serum creatinine concentration was observed in that group of offspring. No morphometric or functional irregularities were found in the progeny of mice fed theobromine. Abnormalities demonstrated in the offspring of mice fed chocolate are not related to its theobromine content. Consequently, identification of active compound(s) responsible for the observed effects is of vital importance.

Nuclear bodies (NBs) are intranuclear structures described in normal and pathologically altered cells of humans and animals. The NBs are 0.3-1.5 microns round structures. Their function is unknown. In the present paper, we describe NBs in the nuclei of the conjunctiva epithelial cells in one patient with cicatricial pemphigoid (CP) and in an another one without conjunctival pathology. We observed increase in the frequency of the NBs of type I occurring in the conjunctival cells in CP patient as compared to the healthy control. This is the first report to describe nuclear bodies in the human conjunctiva.