Objective To explore the effects of prenatal exposures to common microwaves on behavioral development and cognition of offspring rats.
Methods Thirty-six healthy 7-week-old SPF Wistar rats (female:male=2:1) were mated, and the pregnant rats were randomly divided into four groups (single exposure group, double exposure group, single exposure control group, and double exposure control group), six rats in each group. The single exposure group received 1.8 GHz (common mobile phone frequency) microwave exposure; the double exposure group received 1.8 GHz and 2.4 GHz (common WiFi frequency) combined microwave exposures. The exposure of the two groups lasted from 0 to 20 pregnant days, 12 hours per day, with power density of 1.0mW/cm2. The animals in each group were all free to drink and eat during exposure, and the environmental background conditions were stable. After exposure, the indicators of physiological development and behavioral development of offspring rats were observed and measured. HPLC was used to detect the levels of amino acid neurotransmitters including glusate, glycine, γ-aminobutyric acid, and aspartic acid in hippocampus of offspring rats at 7 weeks old.
Results All indicators were not different between the two control groups and were merged therefore. The body weights of offspring rats in the single exposure group(5.61±0.47) g and the double exposure group(5.36±0.53) g were lower than that of the combined control group(6.02±0.59) g; the eye opening time(16.67±0.52) d and (17.00±0.00) d was longer than that of the combined control group(15.40±0.52) d; the forelimb hanging time(10.17±0.41) d and (10.17±0.41) d was shorter than that of the combined control group(10.80±0.63) d (Ps < 0.05). The glutamic acid expression of the double exposures group(589.89±84.04) μg/g was lower than that of the control group(741.00±151.58) μg/g and the single exposure group(742.91±274.95) μg/g (Ps < 0.05). No differences were found in the other three neurotransmitters (Ps>0.05).
Conclusion Maternal exposures to 1.8 GHz and 2.4 GHz combined microwaves could have negative influences on the behavioral development and cognition of offspring rats.
DownLoad: