Whole-body exposure to 2.45 GHz electromagnetic fields does not alter anxiety responses in rats: a plus-maze study including test validation.

Behavioural brain research · 2005 · No effect · Low evidence

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No effectLow evidencePaper 5206

In rats exposed whole-body to 2.45 GHz EMFs (time-averaged SAR 0.6 W/kg; brain-averaged SAR 0.9 W/kg) for 45 min, no significant effects on anxiety responses in the elevated plus maze were observed at either 2.5 lux or 30 lux compared with sham-exposed and na…

Study snapshot

PublicationBehavioural brain research · 2005

Study typeanimal

Reported directionNo effect

Evidence ratingLow

Abstract

In a first phase of this investigation, a validation of our elevated plus-maze apparatus was performed in male Sprague-Dawley rats by testing anxiety response at various ambient light intensities (200, 30, 10 and 2.5 lux), as well as the effects of diazepam treatment (0.5 and 1.0 mg/kg, i.p. at 30 lux). Anxiety responses were found to decrease with decreasing light intensity and to be attenuated by diazepam treatment. Subsequently, a separate set of rats was exposed to 2.45 GHz EMFs (2 micros pulse width, 500 pulses per second, whole-body and time averaged of SAR 0.6 W/kg +/-2 dB, brain-averaged SAR of 0.9 W/kg +/-3 dB) for 45 min to assess whether EMF exposure altered anxiety responses in the same apparatus. As we made no a priori hypothesis on whether the effects would be anxiogenic or anxiolytic, part of the rats were tested under an ambient light intensity of 2.5 lux, the other one being tested at 30 lux. The low intensity level set the behavioural baseline for the detection of anxiogenic effects, while the higher one corresponded to the detection of anxiolytic effects. Sham-exposed and naive rats were used as controls. Whatever light intensity was used, EMF exposure failed to induce any significant effect on anxiety responses in the plus maze. The present experiment demonstrates that exposure to EMFs, which was previously found to increase the number of benzodiazepine receptors in the rat cortex [Lai H, Carino MA, Horita A, Guy AW. Single vs. repeated microwave exposure: effects on benzodiazepine receptors in the brain of the rat. Bioelectromagnetics 1992;13(1):57-66], does not alter anxiety responses assessed in the elevated plus maze.

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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 directionno_effect

PopulationMale Sprague-Dawley rats

Sample sizeNot supplied

Exposuremicrowave · 2450 MHz · 0.6 W/kg · 45 min

Evidence strengthLowConfidence: 78% · Peer reviewed: yes

Main findings

Outcomes measured

Anxiety responses in the elevated plus-maze (under different ambient light intensities)

Limitations

Sample size not reported in the abstract
Only acute exposure duration (45 min) described
Outcome limited to elevated plus-maze anxiety measures

View raw extracted JSON

{
  "study_type": "animal",
  "exposure": {
    "band": "microwave",
    "source": null,
    "frequency_mhz": 2450,
    "sar_wkg": 0.6,
    "duration": "45 min"
  },
  "population": "Male Sprague-Dawley rats",
  "sample_size": null,
  "outcomes": [
    "Anxiety responses in the elevated plus-maze (under different ambient light intensities)"
  ],
  "main_findings": "In rats exposed whole-body to 2.45 GHz EMFs (time-averaged SAR 0.6 W/kg; brain-averaged SAR 0.9 W/kg) for 45 min, no significant effects on anxiety responses in the elevated plus maze were observed at either 2.5 lux or 30 lux compared with sham-exposed and naive controls.",
  "effect_direction": "no_effect",
  "limitations": [
    "Sample size not reported in the abstract",
    "Only acute exposure duration (45 min) described",
    "Outcome limited to elevated plus-maze anxiety measures"
  ],
  "evidence_strength": "low",
  "confidence": 0.78,
  "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
  "keywords": [
    "2.45 GHz",
    "microwave",
    "electromagnetic fields",
    "whole-body exposure",
    "SAR",
    "rat",
    "Sprague-Dawley",
    "elevated plus maze",
    "anxiety",
    "diazepam",
    "light intensity",
    "sham-exposed"
  ],
  "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: 10.1016/j.bbr.2004.05.007
PubMed: 15474651

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