Histopathological and hippocampal changes in the brain of rat pups exposed to electromagnetic fields.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the prenatal effects of 2450 MHz radiofrequency-electromagnetic field (RFEMF) exposure on development of brain tissue in rat fetus and on histopathological changes in female rats and on hippocampal levels of protein kinases including ERK/ MAPK and p38/38 in male rats. Methods: 12 Wistar Albino female rats (150-250 g) and 4 Wistar Albino male rats (250-350 g) were used this study. They were divided into a control and three exposure groups including a male and three female rats. The exposure groups were exposed by 2450 MHz EMF. Control group was not exposed. 1st groups were exposed male rat but not exposed female rats. 2nd groups were exposed both male rat and female rats. 3th groups were not exposed male rat and were exposed female rats. Exposing time was 12 hours for 30 days. At the end of 30 days all groups were fertilized. Brain of all fetus and all female rats were took 10% formaldehyde for histopathological evaluation. The hippocampal levels of selected kinases of all male rats were measured using Western Blotting technique. Results: There were statistical significant difference between the control group and exposure groups in pERK level (p<0.05).But there were not statistical significant difference between the control group and exposure groups in ERK, p38 and p-P38 levels.The histological appearance of the brain tissue of the control groups was normal. Females and fetuses exposed to EMF had irregular cortex-cellular placement and vascular dilatation in the 1st and 2nd groups compared to the control. Conclusion: Western blot analysis confirmed that the expression of pERK was significantly increased after EMF exposed in exposure rats, and thus can activated the ERK pathway which affected the function of learning and memory in rats. EMF can causes damage to both the fetus and the adult brain. Acknowledgments:This work was supported by the Erciyes University-The Scientific Research Projects of Turkey (ERUBAP); Project number: TCD-2017-7275. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]