title: The effects of electromagnetic waves emitted by the cell phones on the testicular tissue.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Various risks have emerged in parallel to the rapidly increasing use of cell phones. Herein we studied the effects of cell phone emitted electromagnetic waves (EMW) on rat testes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty one adult male Albino rats were grouped into 3 groups each consisting of 7 rats. The first group was exposed to EMW on talk mode for 8 hours per day for 20 days and then their testes were extracted. The testes of the second group were extracted after 20 days of whole day EMW exposure. The third group was the control group. For the statistical analysis Mann- Whitney U analysis was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At light microscopic examination of the testicular tissue, the existence of a high number of immature cells in the lumen of the seminiferous tubule in addition to the normal seminiferous tubules, besides irregular tubules with a reduction in the spermatogenic cell lines and tubules without lumen were observed in groups 1 and 2. Histopathological alterations were scored as 0 = none, 1 = low, 2 = medium, 3 = serious. The average scores of the three groups were found to be 4.25 ± 1.5 for the group 1, 4.33 ± 3.9 for the group 2 and 0.37 ± 1.1 for the group 3 respectively. As a result of the statistical evaluation, group 1 and group 2 had significantly higher scores than the control group (p = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Infertility is one of the current problems of today due to a rapid increase in its incidence and cost. The negative effects of the EMWs on the testis should be taken into account and the necessary measures should be taken for prevention.
authors: Haydarpasa Numune Training and Research Hospital, Department of Urology, Istanbul. drorhankoca@hotmail.com.
authors: Muhammet Ihsan
authors: MI
authors: Karaman
authors: Ali Murat
authors: AM
authors: Gökçe
authors: Orhan
authors: O
authors: Koca
authors: Bilal
authors: B
authors: Karaman
authors: Metin Ishak
authors: MI
authors: Öztürk
authors: Necati
authors: N
authors: Yurdakul
authors: Feriha
authors: F
authors: Ercan
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D040421:Cell Phone; D060733:Electromagnetic Radiation; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013737:Testis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000528:radiation effects*