Evaluation of the Structural Changes of Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields on Brain and Testes of Adult Male Mice

Saad El-Din, Aisha A. Saad El-Din; Abd El-Motaal, Nabila A.; Abd El Hamid, Haidy F.; El-Akid, Yasser F.

doi:10.21608/ejhm.2006.17909

Evaluation of the Structural Changes of Extremely Low Frequency Electromagnetic Fields on Brain and Testes of Adult Male Mice

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ National Centre of Radiation Research and Technology, Egypt

² Department of Anatomy Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University.

³ Department of Forensic Medicine and Clinical Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University.

10.21608/ejhm.2006.17909

Abstract

Theincreasingnumberofdevicesemittingmagneticfieldsraisedvalidquestionsconcerning theirsafetyandpotentialriskforhumanexposureanditslimits.Forthispurposefifteenadult micewereexposedtoextremelylowfrequencyelectromagneticfield(ELMF)atafrequencyof 60Hertz(Hz)andintensityof20millitesla(mT)for2hoursfor2consecutivedays.Other10 animalsservedasacontrol.
Aftertheirsacrifice,serumtestosteronewasdetermined.Inaddition,electron microscopicstudyofmicebrainsandtesteswasdone.
ThepresentstudyrevealedthatexposuretoEMFcausedsignificantincreaseinserum testosterone.
Electronmicroscopicexaminationofbraincellsshowedmarkeddemyelinationofnerve fibreswithdegenerationofnervecells.Therewasalsodegenerationofsomespermatogenic cellswithabnormalspermmorphology.
Inconclusion,thepresentstudyshowedevidentbiochemicalandhistopathologicalchangesof ELMFonthebrainandtestis.Furtherstudieswouldbeusefultoassesstheeffectofother dosesofexposureandtofollowthedegreeofreversibilityofthesechanges.Other investigationsarealsoadvisabletominimizetheabovebiologicaleffectsandprotectagainst ELMF.