Widespread use of mobile phones which are a major source of electromagnetic fields might affect living organisms. However, there has been no investigation concerning prenatal exposure to electromagnetic fields or their roles in the development of the pyramidal cells of the cornu ammonis in postnatal life. Two groups of pregnant rats, a control group and an experimental group, that were exposed to an electromagnetic field were used. For obtaining electromagnetic field offspring, the pregnant rats were exposed to 900 megahertz electromagnetic fields during the 1-19th gestation days. There were no actions performed on the control group during the same period. The offspring rats were spontaneously delivered--control group (n = 6) and electromagnetic field group (n = 6). Offspring were sacrificed for stereological analyses at the end of the 4th week. Pyramidal cell number in rat cornu ammonis was estimated using the optical fractionator technique. It was found that 900 megahertz of electromagnetic field significantly reduced the total pyramidal cell number in the cornu ammonis of the electromagnetic field group (P < 0.001). Therefore, although its exact mechanism is not clear, it is suggested that pyramidal cell loss in the cornu ammonis could be due to the 900 megahertz electromagnetic field exposure in the prenatal period.
Our results show that a high percentage of variations can be seen even in a small number of cases. We believe that our data are clinically important because, for example, variations are a factor which increases the incidence of aneurism and thrombus. We also think our results will contribute to the demography of our country and to clinical medicine.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.