Impacts of exposure to 900 MHz mobile phone radiation on liver function in rats.

PAPER pubmed Zhongguo ying yong sheng li xue za zhi = Zhongguo yingyong shenglixue zazhi = Chinese journal of applied physiology 2015 Animal study Effect: mixed Evidence: Low

Read original paper → PMID: 27215026 Evidence Lab

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To study the impacts of exposure to electromagnetic radiation (EMR) on liver function in rats. METHODS: Twenty adult male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into normal group and radiated group. The rats in normal group were not radiated, those in radiated group were exposed to EMR 4 h/ d for 18 consecutive days. Rats were sacrificed immediately after the end of the experiment. The serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and those of malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) in liver tissue were evaluated by colorimetric method. The liver histopathological changes were observed by hematoxylin and eosin staining and the protein expression of bax and bcl- 2 in liver tissue were detected by immunohistochemical method. Terminal-deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated nick and labelling (TUNEL) method was used for analysis of apoptosis in liver. RESULTS: Compared with the normal rats, the serum levels of ALT and AST in the radiated group had no obvious changes (P>0.05), while the contents of MDA increased (P < 0.01) and those of GSH decreased (P < 0.01) in liver tissues. The histopathology examination showed diffuse hepatocyte swelling and vacuolation, small pieces and focal necrosis. The immunohistochemical results displayed that the expression of the bax protein was higher and that of bcl-2 protein was lower in radiated group. The hepatocyte apoptosis rates in radiated group was higher than that in normal group (all P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The exposure to 900 MHz mobile phone 4 h/d for 18 days could induce the liver histological changes, which may be partly due to the apoptosis and oxidative stress induced in liver tissue by electromagnetic radiation.

AI evidence extraction

At a glance

Study type

Animal study

Effect direction

mixed

Population

Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats

Sample size

Exposure

RF mobile phone · 900 MHz · 4 h/day for 18 consecutive days

Evidence strength

Low

Confidence: 78% · Peer-reviewed: yes

Main findings

In exposed rats, serum ALT and AST showed no obvious changes versus controls (P>0.05). Liver tissue MDA increased and GSH decreased (both P<0.01), with histopathological changes (hepatocyte swelling/vacuolation and focal necrosis), higher Bax and lower Bcl-2 expression, and increased hepatocyte apoptosis (P<0.01).

Outcomes measured

Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT)
Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST)
Liver tissue malondialdehyde (MDA)
Liver tissue glutathione (GSH)
Liver histopathology (H&E staining)
Bax protein expression (immunohistochemistry)
Bcl-2 protein expression (immunohistochemistry)
Hepatocyte apoptosis (TUNEL)

Limitations

No specific exposure setup details provided (e.g., power density, SAR, modulation, distance).
Small sample size (20 rats total).
Short exposure duration (18 days).
Only adult male rats studied; generalizability to other sexes/ages/species not addressed.

Suggested hubs

rf-animal-studies (0.9)
Controlled 900 MHz RF exposure experiment in rats assessing liver outcomes.

View raw extracted JSON

{
    "study_type": "animal",
    "exposure": {
        "band": "RF",
        "source": "mobile phone",
        "frequency_mhz": 900,
        "sar_wkg": null,
        "duration": "4 h/day for 18 consecutive days"
    },
    "population": "Adult male Sprague-Dawley rats",
    "sample_size": 20,
    "outcomes": [
        "Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT)",
        "Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST)",
        "Liver tissue malondialdehyde (MDA)",
        "Liver tissue glutathione (GSH)",
        "Liver histopathology (H&E staining)",
        "Bax protein expression (immunohistochemistry)",
        "Bcl-2 protein expression (immunohistochemistry)",
        "Hepatocyte apoptosis (TUNEL)"
    ],
    "main_findings": "In exposed rats, serum ALT and AST showed no obvious changes versus controls (P>0.05). Liver tissue MDA increased and GSH decreased (both P<0.01), with histopathological changes (hepatocyte swelling/vacuolation and focal necrosis), higher Bax and lower Bcl-2 expression, and increased hepatocyte apoptosis (P<0.01).",
    "effect_direction": "mixed",
    "limitations": [
        "No specific exposure setup details provided (e.g., power density, SAR, modulation, distance).",
        "Small sample size (20 rats total).",
        "Short exposure duration (18 days).",
        "Only adult male rats studied; generalizability to other sexes/ages/species not addressed."
    ],
    "evidence_strength": "low",
    "confidence": 0.7800000000000000266453525910037569701671600341796875,
    "peer_reviewed_likely": "yes",
    "keywords": [
        "900 MHz",
        "radiofrequency",
        "mobile phone radiation",
        "rat",
        "liver",
        "oxidative stress",
        "apoptosis",
        "MDA",
        "GSH",
        "ALT",
        "AST",
        "Bax",
        "Bcl-2",
        "TUNEL",
        "histopathology"
    ],
    "suggested_hubs": [
        {
            "slug": "rf-animal-studies",
            "weight": 0.90000000000000002220446049250313080847263336181640625,
            "reason": "Controlled 900 MHz RF exposure experiment in rats assessing liver outcomes."
        }
    ]
}

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

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