title: Effects of fetal microwave radiation exposure on offspring behavior in mice.
abstract: The recent rapid development of electronic communication techniques is resulting in a marked increase in exposure of humans to electromagnetic fields (EMFs). This has raised public concerns about the health hazards of long-term environmental EMF exposure for fetuses and children. Some studies have suggested EMF exposure in children could induce nervous system disorders. However, gender-dependent effects of microwave radiation exposure on cognitive dysfunction have not previously been reported. Here we investigated whether in utero exposure to 9.417-GHz microwave throughout gestation (Days 3.5-18) affected behavior, using the open field test (OFT), elevated-plus maze (EPM), tail suspension test (TST), forced swimming test (FST) and Morris water maze (MWM). We found that mice showed less movement in the center of an open field (using the OFT) and in an open arm (using the EPM) after in utero exposure to 9.417-GHz radiation, which suggested that the mice had increased anxiety-related behavior. Mice demonstrated reduced immobility in TST and FST after in utero exposure to 9.417-GHz radiation, which suggested that the mice had decreased depression-related behavior. From the MWM test, we observed that male offspring demonstrated decreased learning and memory, while females were not affected in learning and memory, which suggested that microwaves had gender-dependent effects. In summary, we have provided the first experimental evidence of microwaves inducing gender-dependent effects.
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Proteomics, Cognitive and Mental Health Research Center of the PLA, Taiping Road 27, Haidian District, Beijing 100850, China.
authors.forename: Yanchun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Proteomics, Cognitive and Mental Health Research Center of the PLA, Taiping Road 27, Haidian District, Beijing 100850, China.
authors.forename: Zhihui
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Proteomics, Cognitive and Mental Health Research Center of the PLA, Taiping Road 27, Haidian District, Beijing 100850, China gaoyan211@163.com.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Beijing Institute of Radiation Medicine, State Key Laboratory of Proteomics, Cognitive and Mental Health Research Center of the PLA, Taiping Road 27, Haidian District, Beijing 100850, China.
authors.forename: Chenggang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000528:radiation effects*; D003071:Cognition / Q000528:radiation effects*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051379:Mice; D008872:Microwaves / Q000009:adverse effects*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D012727:Sex Characteristics
keywords: anxiety; depression; gender-specific; learning and memory; microwave radiation