Progress In Electromagnetics Research, PIER 82, 287–298, 2008

THE EFFECT OF MICROWAVE EMISSION FROMMOBILE PHONES ON NEURON SURVIVAL IN RATCENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEMY. Zhu, F. Gao, X. Yang, H. Shen, and W. Liu

†

Department of NeurosurgeryThe Second Aﬃliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhou 310009, Zhejiang, China

H. Chen

The Electromagnetics Academy at Zhejiang UniversityZhejiang UniversityHangzhou 310058, China

X. Jiang

Department of Public HealthZhejiang University School of MedicineHangzhou 310009, Zhejiang, China

Abstract

—To investigate the eﬀect of microwave emitted by mobilephones on the rat central nervous system (CNS),

in vitro

culturedcortical neuronal cells and

in vivo

rat’s brain were exposed tothe electromagnetic waves emitted by a microwave transmitter thatmimics the working frequency of mobile phones. Trypan bluestaining and terminal deoxynucleotidy transferase-mediated dUTPnick-end labeling (TUNEL) were used to determine the survival stateof neuronal cells while immunohistochemistry method was used todetermine the expression level of Bcl-2 and Bax. Our results showthat microwave lead to signiﬁcant cell death in culture and more

in vivo

brain neuronal cells were stained positive for TUNEL, Baxand Bcl-2 in rats with cranial defect after exposure than that for

†

To whom correspondence should be addressed: Department of Neurosurgery, the SecondAﬃliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 88 Jiefang Road, Hangzhou310009, Zhejiang Province, People’s Republic of China

288 Zhu et al.

control groups (with intact cranium, or had no microwave exposure)(

P <

01). However, no signiﬁcant diﬀerences were observed in theratio of Bax/Bcl-2 among the groups studied. Therefore, microwaveemitted from mobile phones is harmful to both

in vitro

cultured corticalcells and

in vivo

brain neuronal cells from rat with cranial defect.The integrity of cranium is important in protecting the CNS againstapoptotic injuries inﬂicted by the microwaves from mobile phones.

1. INTRODUCTION

In the recent years, the widespread use of mobile phones has givenrise to a growing concern over their possible adverse effects of theelectromagnetic waves emitted on human health [1–6]. In additionto those obvious life-threatening hazards of using a mobile phoneunder certain conditions, such as mobile phone use while operatingan automobile or the unwanted interferences with medical equipmentor implanted pacemakers by mobile phone radiation, the low intensity,pulsed microwave radiation that the GSM mobile phones emit canalso exert subtle, non-thermal influences on the organism. Sincemobile phones are usually held close to the head when they are inuse, part of the microwave they emit is absorbed by the brain [7–9]. For example, most microwaves in the frequency range of 800–1000MHz can penetrate the cranium and near 40% of them canreach the deep brain [1,4,5,10–13]. Therefore, it is conceivablethat microwave from mobile phones could affect brain functions. Asa matter of fact, preliminary studies have already reported thatmobile phones affect brain functioning and behaviors [14–25]. Forexample, the electromagnetic field generated by a GSM mobile phonemodifies brain excitability and enhances electroencephalogram alpha-band power. However, current studies mainly address the potentialadverse biological effects of mobile phone microwave, while lacksdemonstration of the basic mechanisms behind these biological effects.Therefore, in this study, we used a microwave device to mimic themicrowave emitted by mobile phones and investigated its bio-effectson the survival of both

in vitro

cultured rat neuronal cells and

in vivo

rat CNS neuronal cells. However, we do realize the human body, as anintegral organism, has much stronger resistance and powerful defenseagainst outside insults like microwave than the

in vitro

cultured cells.Accordingly, we then designed an

in vivo

rat model to study the eﬀectof microwave emitted from mobile phones on the

in vivo

CNS neuronalcells and explore the role cranium may play during that process.

Progress In Electromagnetics Research, PIER 82, 2008 289

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS2.1. Microwave Generator System

The experimental setup is shown in Fig. 1, where the electromagneticwaves are radiated by a horn antenna. The signal is generated by aMicrowave generator (8674A, Hewlett Packard), the electromagneticsignal is firstly amplified by a Power Amplifier (Model 727LC-CE,Kalmus) before it is fed to the horn antenna. The field densities inthe chamber are measured by the microwave analyzer (ESA-1500A,Hewlett Packard). The radiation frequency is set to be 900MHz.

2.2. Exposure of Neuronal Culture to Microwave

2.2.1. Primary Cortical Neuronal Culture

All animal research protocols were approved by the Animal Care andUse Committee of Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Rat corticalneuronal cells were prepared from the cerebral cortex of neonatal (P0-1) Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats at the Experimental Animal Center of Zhejiang University School of Medicine as previously described [26].Brieﬂy, rats were decapitated under deep anaesthesia, and their brainswere quickly removed and placed in ice-cold dissociation solution, theCa

, Mg

and bicarbonate-free Hanks’ balanced salt solution (CMF-Hanks’; Gibco, Paisley, UK). Cerebral cortex was isolated using ﬁnetweezers and chopped into small pieces that were then placed in atreatment chamber containing 0.25% trypsin in dissociation solutionat 37

◦

C. After 30min incubation, the tissue was rinsed several timesin dissociation solution and mechanically dissociated using a series of ﬁre-polished Pasteur pipettes. After centrifuge, the supernatant wasdiscarded and the dissociated neuronal cells were collected and seededinto tissue culture plate pre-coated with polylysine at a density of 10

cells/ml. Cells were allowed to settle for 1hour at 37

◦

C beforethe dissociation solution was replaced with culture medium (DMEDsupplemented with 15% deactivated bovine serum, Invitrogen, USA)and cultures were maintained at 37

◦

C, 5% CO

. 48hours later, 10

Mcytarabine was added to inhibit the growth of non-neuronal cells.Culture medium was replaced with fresh ones twice a week until thecells were exposed to microwave 12 days later.

2.2.2. Microwave Exposure