Alterations of thymic morphology and antioxidant biomarkers in 60-day-old male rats following exposure to a continuous 900 MHz electromagnetic field during adolescence.
Kulaber A, Kerimoğlu G, Ersöz Ş, Çolakoğlu S, Odacı E. · 2017
View Original AbstractDaily cell phone frequency exposure during adolescence increased immune organ damage and oxidative stress in developing rats.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed young male rats to 900 MHz radiofrequency radiation (similar to cell phone frequencies) for one hour daily during their adolescent development period. The exposed rats showed increased oxidative stress in their thymus (a key immune system organ) and tissue damage including bleeding into the tissue. This suggests that RF radiation during development may harm the immune system by creating damaging free radicals.
Why This Matters
This study adds important evidence to our understanding of how radiofrequency radiation affects the developing immune system. The thymus plays a critical role in training immune cells, particularly during youth, making damage to this organ especially concerning. The 900 MHz frequency used matches that of many cell phones and wireless devices that children use daily. What makes this research particularly relevant is the timing of exposure during adolescence, a critical developmental window when the immune system is still maturing. The increased malondialdehyde levels indicate oxidative stress, the same cellular damage mechanism linked to aging and disease. While we can't directly extrapolate from rat studies to humans, the biological pathways for oxidative stress are remarkably similar across species, and the thymus serves the same immune function in both rats and humans.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. The study examined exposure from: 900 MHz Duration: 1 h every day between postnatal days 22 and 59
Study Details
We investigated changes in thymic tissue of male rats exposed to a 900 megahertz (MHz) electromagnetic field (EMF) on postnatal days 22–59.
Three groups of six 21-day-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were allocated as: control (CG), sham (SG) a...
Oxidant/antioxidant parameters were investigated biochemically. Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in EMFG...
We found that 900 MHz EMF applied for 1 h/day on postnatal days 22–59 can increase tissue MDA and histopathological changes in male rat thymic tissue
Show BibTeX
@article{a_2017_alterations_of_thymic_morphology_1663,
author = {Kulaber A and Kerimoğlu G and Ersöz Ş and Çolakoğlu S and Odacı E.},
title = {Alterations of thymic morphology and antioxidant biomarkers in 60-day-old male rats following exposure to a continuous 900 MHz electromagnetic field during adolescence.},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1080/10520295.2017.1312525},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10520295.2017.1312525},
}