Altun, and 6 co-authors, investigated in 2017 the effects of pulsed digital electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile phones on the central nervous system of the adult Wistar albino rats. The study evaluated structural and functional impacts of four treatment arms: electromagnetic field (EMF) exposed; EMF exposed + melatonin treated group (EMF + Mel); EMF exposed + omega-3 (3) treated group (EMF + 3); and control group (Cont). The 12-weeks-old rats were exposed to 900 MHz EMF for 60 min/day (4:00–5:00 p.m.) for 15 days. Stereological, biochemical and electrophysiological techniques were applied to evaluate protective effects of Mel and 3. Significant cell loss in the CA1 and CA2 regions of hippocampus were observed in the EMF compared to other groups (p < 0.01). In the CA3 region of the EMF + 3, a significant cell increase was found compared to other groups (p < 0.01).
Granular cell loss was observed in the dentate gyrus of the EMF compared to the Cont (p < 0.01). EMF + 3 has more granular cells in the cerebellum than the Cont, EMF + Mel (p < 0.01). Significant Purkinje cell loss was found in the cerebellum of EMF group compared to the other (p < 0.01). EMF + Mel and EMF + 3 showed the same
protection compared to the Cont (p > 0.05). The passive avoidance test showed that entrance latency into the dark compartment was significantly shorter in the EMF (p < 0.05). Additionally, EMF had a higher serum enzyme activity than the other groups (p < 0.01). In conclusion, our analyses confirm that EMF may lead to cellular damage in the hippocampus and the cerebellum, and that Mel and 3 may have neuroprotective effects.
The authors concluded that their results are consistent with other investigations that have found a protective effect of omega 3 fatty acids. The discovery that an increase in CAT and GSH activities within the EMF group was at the same level with the Mel-injected group indicated that the antioxidant effect of 3 s was stronger when the Mel free radical scavenger group was compared with the group whose feed contained fish oil 3. Our results underline the point that DHA is one of the most sensitive components
of lipid peroxidation. GSH is an important scavenger of reductase and peroxidase enzymes. GSSG is also formed by the oxidation of reduced GSH. Under oxidative stress, GSH levels decrease, but GSSG levels increase. In normal circumstances, GPx is responsible for the detoxification of hydrogen peroxide in the cell. GPx allows for the degradation to water by binding hydrogen peroxide to reduced GSH. During this reaction, GSH becomes GSSG [31].
In authors' study, the reason that high amounts of serum GSH were obtained from the EMF and EMF + Mel groups was GSH’s inability to be transformed to GSSG and to bind with hydrogen peroxide. In this case, low amounts of GSH and high amounts of GSSG in the control and EMF + 3 groups have indicated that the free radical
scavenger activity of 3 was more effective when compared with Mel.
In this study, a significant increase of the SOD activity in the EMF exposed group was observed compared to the control and other groups, EMF + Mel and EMF + 3 groups. SOD enzyme activity may increase after oxidative stress to scavenge superoxides. Additionally, CAT plays a major role along with GPx in scavenging intracellular hydrogen peroxide. This enzyme is especially higher in the kidney, liver, and erythrocytes than in other organs [80]. An increased amount of SOD, CAT, and GSH in the hippocampal tissues exposed to EMF can be seen in other studies. In addition, high CAT and GSH activities in the EMF + Mel and EMF groups may indicate that the level of free radicals is very high, stimulating high amounts of antioxidant enzymes.
Our study also found that a varying duration of a 900-MHz EMF application resulted in no significant difference in most of the EEG waves, with the notable exception of the gamma-1 band; other bands remained unchanged in terms of relative power in response to magnetic field application. The gamma band of the mammalian brain encompasses the fastest frequencies and is generally related to cross-modal sensory processing and short-term memory matching of recognized objects, sounds, or sensations. In this regard, a decrease in gamma bands can be interpreted as a sign
of cognitive decline.
The authors found that an important and significant decline in the EMF exposed groups in general, especially after 15 days of regular applications. Interestingly, it appears that both Mel and 3 applications block these effects so that results are comparable to those of the Cont group. Specific attention must be also directed to the changes in faster EEG bands in order to evaluate brain effects of such EMF exposure.
In addition, many studies have shown a cell loss in the hippocampus, DG, and cerebellum because of being exposed to a 900 MHz EMF for an hour every day for 15 days of period. The authors' study has found that neuroprotective effects of Mel and 3 based on the antioxidant defense system as evidenced through histological and biochemical analyses. Thus, consistent with a number of previous investigations our study finds that EMF from mobile phones induces degenerative effects on neurons of
critical components of the brain and that Mel and 3 separately provide important neuroprotective effects against these damaging impacts through increasing antioxidants.
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