Effect of Mobile Phone Exposure on Apoptotic Glial Cells and Status of Oxidative Stress in Rat Brain

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of mobile phone exposure on glial cells in brain. The study carried out on 31 Wistar Albino adult male rats. The rat heads in a carousel exposed to 900 MHz microwave. For the study group (n:14), rats exposed to the radiation 2 h per day (7 days in a week) for 10 months. For the sham group (n:7), rats were placed into the carousel and the same procedure was applied except that the generator was turned off. For the cage control (n:10), nothing applied to rats in this group. In this study, rats were euthanized after 10 months of exposure periods and brains were removed. Brain tissues were immunohistochemically stained for the active (cleaved) caspase-3, which is a well-known apoptosis marker, and p53. The expression of the proteins was evaluated by a semi-quantitative scoring system. However, total antioxidative capacity (TAC), catalase, total oxidant status (TOS), and oxidative stress index were measured in rat brain. Final score for apoptosis in the exposed group was significantly lower than the sham (p < 0.001) and the cage control groups (p < 0.01). p53 was not significantly changed by the exposure (p > 0.05). The total antioxidant capacity and catalase in the experimental group was found higher than that in the sham group (p < 0.001, p < 0.05). In terms of the TOS and oxidative stress index, there was no statistically significant difference between exposure and sham groups (p > 0.05). In conclusion, the final score for apoptosis, total antioxidant capacity and catalase in rat brain might be altered by 900 MHz radiation produced by a generator to represent exposure of global systems for mobile communication (GSM) cellular phones.

Long-Term Effect of 900 MHz Radiofrequency Radiation Exposure on Cochlear Functions

“…A very low average power density can cause an acoustic response in the head, and there is the potential of exposure of the public and workers to pulses that induce such effects (11,18,19,20). Because of the widespread use of mobile phones, studies on the effect of radiofrequencies emitted from mobile phones are performed by scientists not only on the hearing function, but also on the other organs (2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10). the studies on the relation between radiofrequencies and hearing function can sometimes be controversial.…”

Effect of Extremely Low Frequency Magnetic Field and Mobile Phone Exposure on Nasal Mucosa and Nose Skin

“…Based on the available experimental studies, IARC concluded that there is inadequate evidence for carcinogenicity of ELF magnetic fields in experimental animals (9). It is also stated that environmental agents such as ELF-MF, radiofrequencies can promote the development of cancer also through non-genotoxic mechanisms such as stimulation of cell proliferation and inhibition of apoptosis (3,9). In this study, we did not find any adverse effect of 100 µT and 500 µT ELF-MF on nose skin and nasal mucosa, which a safety standard defined for the public and workers (Fig.…”

An Experimental Multi-Frequency System for Studying Dosimetry and Acute Effects on Cell and Nuclear Morphology in Rat Tissues

“…Authors working at 900 or 2450 MHz have reported that acute effects in the cerebral cortex and striatum, such as glyosis, neuronal activation and cell stress, are associated with SARs ranging from brain averages of 6.0 W/kg to 1-g-average peaks as low as 0.3 W/kg [15][16][17]. Alterations in neuronal apoptosis rates or non-caspase-dependent apoptotic pathways have also been observed after single or repeated exposure of whole rats or human or animal neuronal cell lines [18][19][20][21][22]. In other studies, however, no biological effects of 0.8-2.0 GHz radiation on apoptosis have been observed in nervous system tissue [23][24][25].…”