Abstract

In the present lifestyle, we are continuously exposed to radiofrequency electromagnetic field (RF-EMF) radiation generated mainly by mobile phones (MP). Among other organs, our brain and hippocampus in specific, is the region where effect of any environmental perturbation is most pronounced. So, this study was aimed to examine changes in major parameters (oxidative stress, level of pro-inflammatory cytokines (PICs), hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis hormones, and contextual fear conditioning) which are linked to hippocampus directly or indirectly, upon exposure to mobile phone radiofrequency electromagnetic field (MP-RF-EMF) radiation. Exposure was performed on young adult male Wistar rats for 16 weeks continuously (2 h/day) with MP-RF-EMF radiation having frequency, power density, and specific absorption rate (SAR) of 1966.1 MHz, 4.0 mW/cm², and 0.36 W/kg, respectively. Another set of animals kept in similar conditions without any radiation exposure serves as control. Towards the end of exposure period, animals were tested for fear memory and then euthanized to measure hippocampal oxidative stress, level of circulatory PICs, and stress hormones. We observed significant increase in hippocampal oxidative stress (p < 0.05) and elevated level of circulatory PICs viz. IL-1beta (p < 0.01), IL-6 (p < 0.05), and TNF-alpha (p < 0.001) in experimental animals upon exposure to MP-RF-EMF radiation. Adrenal gland weight (p < 0.001) and level of stress hormones viz. adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) (p < 0.01) and corticosterone (CORT) (p < 0.05) were also found to increase significantly in MP-RF-EMF radiation-exposed animals as compared with control. However, alteration in contextual fear memory was not significant enough. In conclusion, current study shows that chronic exposure to MP-RF-EMF radiation emitted from mobile phones may induce oxidative stress, inflammatory response, and HPA axis deregulation. However, changes in hippocampal functionality depend on the complex interplay of several opposing factors that got affected upon MP-RF-EMF exposure.

中文翻译：

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手机辐射对Wistar大鼠氧化应激，炎症反应和情境恐惧记忆的影响。

摘要

在当前的生活方式中，我们不断暴露于主要由手机（MP）产生的射频电磁场（RF-EMF）辐射。在其他器官中，特别是我们的大脑和海马体是任何环境扰动作用最明显的区域。因此，本研究旨在检查与海马直接或间接相关的主要参数（氧化应激，促炎性细胞因子（PIC）水平，下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴激素和情境恐惧条件）的变化。 ，暴露于手机射频电磁场（MP-RF-EMF）辐射下。在成年雄性Wistar大鼠上连续暴露16周（2小时/天），持续16周，其MP-RF-EMF辐射的频率，功率密度和比吸收率（SAR）为1966.1 MHz，4.0 mW / cm²和0.36 W / kg。保持在相似条件下且没有任何辐射暴露的另一组动物作为对照。在暴露期即将结束时，对动物进行恐惧记忆测试，然后对它们进行安乐死以测量海马氧化应激，循环PIC的水平和应激激素。我们观察到海马氧化应激显着增加（p  <0.05）和循环PIC的水平升高。 暴露于MP-RF-EMF辐射的实验动物中的IL-1beta（p  <0.01），IL-6（p  <0.05）和TNF-alpha（p <0.001）。肾上腺重量（p  <0.001）和压力激素水平。促肾上腺皮质激素（ACTH）（p 与对照组相比，MP-RF-EMF辐射动物中， <0.01）和皮质酮（CORT）（p <0.05）也显着增加。但是，情境恐惧记忆的改变还不够显着。总之，当前的研究表明，长期暴露于手机发出的MP-RF-EMF辐射可能会引起氧化应激，炎症反应和HPA轴失调。但是，海马功能的变化取决于受MP-RF-EMF暴露影响的几个对立因素的复杂相互作用。