Possible effects of different doses of 2.1 GHz electromagnetic radiation on learning, and hippocampal levels of cholinergic biomarkers in Wistar rats

Electromagnetic biology and medicine · 2020 · Harm · Low evidence

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HarmLow evidencePaper 1582

Rats exposed to 2.1 GHz RF-EMR at 65 V/m for 1 week showed impaired performance in object location and Y-maze tasks. Hippocampal levels (protein and mRNA expression) of AChE, ChAT, and VAChT were significantly lower in the 65 V/m group compared with other gro…

Study snapshot

PublicationElectromagnetic biology and medicine · 2020

Study typeanimal

Reported directionHarm

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

Possible effects of different doses of 2.1 GHz electromagnetic radiation on learning, and hippocampal levels of cholinergic biomarkers in Wistar rats Çiğdem Gökçek-Saraç, Güven Akçay, Serdar Karakurt, Kayhan Ateş, Şükrü Özen, Narin Derin. Possible effects of different doses of 2.1 GHz electromagnetic radiation on learning, and hippocampal levels of cholinergic biomarkers in Wistar rats. Electromagn Biol Med. 2020 Dec 1;1-12. doi: 10.1080/15368378.2020.1851251. Abstract The present study evaluated whether short-term exposure to different doses of 2.1 GHz radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation (RF-EMR) has different effects on rats' behaviour and hippocampal levels of central cholinergic biomarkers. Animals were divided into three equal groups namely; group 1 was sham-exposed group, group 2-3 were exposed to 45 V/m and 65 V/m doses of 2.1 GHz frequency for 1 week respectively. Numerical dosimetry simulations were carried out. Object location and Y-maze were used as behavioural tasks. The protein and mRNA expression levels of AChE, ChAT, and VAChT, in the hippocampus were tested using Western Blotting and Real-Time PCR. The impairment performance of rats subjected to 65 V/m dose of 2.1 GHz RF-EMR in both object location and Y-maze tasks was observed. The hippocampal levels of AChE, ChAT, and VAChT, were significantly lower in rats exposed to 65 V/m dose of 2.1 GHz RF-EMR than others. The stronger effect of "65 V/m" dose on both rat's hippocampal-dependent behavioural performances and hippocampal levels of cholinergic biomarkers may be due to the stronger effect of "65 V/m" dose where rats' snouts were located at the nearest distance from the monopole antenna. Furthermore, the simulated SAR values were high for 65 V/m electric-field strengths. For the first time, we report the potential dose-dependent effects of short- term exposure to 2.1 GHz radiation on rat's behavioural performances as well as hippocampal levels of cholinergic biomarkers. Further studies are needed to understand the mechanisms by which RF-EMR influences the function of the central cholinergic system in the brain. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Machine Enhanced Logic

AI evidence extraction

Structured fields below were generated from the paper’s abstract and metadata to make the evidence easier to inspect. Automated extraction may be incomplete or incorrect; verify important details against the original paper.

Study typeanimal

Effect directionharm

PopulationWistar rats

Sample sizeNot supplied

ExposureRF · 2100 MHz · 1 week (short-term exposure)

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Outcomes measured

Learning/memory performance (object location task)
Learning/memory performance (Y-maze task)
Hippocampal protein expression of AChE
Hippocampal mRNA expression of AChE
Hippocampal protein expression of ChAT
Hippocampal mRNA expression of ChAT
Hippocampal protein expression of VAChT
Hippocampal mRNA expression of VAChT
Numerical dosimetry / simulated SAR values

Limitations

Sample size not reported in abstract
Short-term exposure only (1 week)
Exposure described in V/m; SAR values mentioned as high but not quantified in abstract
Potential positional/distance effect noted (snout nearest to antenna) which may affect dose distribution
Mechanisms not established (authors call for further studies)

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "animal",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "RF",
    "source": null,
    "frequency_mhz": 2100,
    "sar_wkg": null,
    "duration": "1 week (short-term exposure)"
  },
  "population": "Wistar rats",
  "sample_size": null,
  "outcomes": [
    "Learning/memory performance (object location task)",
    "Learning/memory performance (Y-maze task)",
    "Hippocampal protein expression of AChE",
    "Hippocampal mRNA expression of AChE",
    "Hippocampal protein expression of ChAT",
    "Hippocampal mRNA expression of ChAT",
    "Hippocampal protein expression of VAChT",
    "Hippocampal mRNA expression of VAChT",
    "Numerical dosimetry / simulated SAR values"
  ],
  "main_findings": "Rats exposed to 2.1 GHz RF-EMR at 65 V/m for 1 week showed impaired performance in object location and Y-maze tasks. Hippocampal levels (protein and mRNA expression) of AChE, ChAT, and VAChT were significantly lower in the 65 V/m group compared with other groups; simulated SAR values were reported as high for 65 V/m electric-field strengths.",
  "effect_direction": "harm",
  "limitations": [
    "Sample size not reported in abstract",
    "Short-term exposure only (1 week)",
    "Exposure described in V/m; SAR values mentioned as high but not quantified in abstract",
    "Potential positional/distance effect noted (snout nearest to antenna) which may affect dose distribution",
    "Mechanisms not established (authors call for further studies)"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "2.1 GHz",
    "RF-EMR",
    "radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation",
    "Wistar rats",
    "learning",
    "object location",
    "Y-maze",
    "hippocampus",
    "cholinergic biomarkers",
    "AChE",
    "ChAT",
    "VAChT",
    "dosimetry",
    "SAR",
    "dose-dependent"
  ],
  "suggested_hubs": []
}

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AI-extracted fields are generated from the abstract and metadata and may be incomplete or incorrect. This material is for informational purposes and is not medical advice.

Identifiers and source

DOI: 10.1080/15368378.2020.1851251
PubMed: 33259237

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