Cellphone electromagnetic radiation damages the testicular ultrastructure of male rats

CAO Xiao-hui; MA Hui-rong; MA Xue-lian; CHEN Jie; ZHANG Guo-hong

doi:10.13263/j.cnki.nja.2016.06.002

Abstract：Objective:To investigate the influence of cellphone electromagnetic radiation (CER) on the testicular ultrastructure and the apoptosis of spermatogenic cells in male rats.Methods:Thirty adult male SD rats were equally randomized into a 2 h CER,a 4 h CER,and a normal control group,the former two groups exposed to 30 days of 900 MHz CER for 2 and 4 hours a day,respectively,while the latter left untreated.Then the changes in the ultrastmcture of the testis tissue were observed under the transmission electron microscope and the apoptosis of the spermatogenic cells was determined by TUNEL.Results:Compared with the normal controls,the rats of the 2 h CER group showed swollen basement membrane of seminiferous tubules,separated tight junction of Sertoli cells,increased cell intervals,apparent vacuoles and medullization in some mitochondria,and increased apoptosis of spermatogenic cells,mainly the apoptosis of primary spermatocytes (P ＜ 0.05).In comparison with the 2 h CER group,the animals of the 4 h CER group exhibited swollen basement membrane of seminiferous tubules,more separated tight junction of Sertoli cells,wider cell intervals,incomplete membrane of spermatogonial cells,fragments of cytoplasm,nuclear pyknosis and notch,slight dilation of perinuclear space,abnormalities of intracellular mitochondria with vacuoles,fuzzy structure,and fusion or disappearance of some cristae,and increased damage of mitochondria and apoptosis of spermatogenic cells,including the apoptosis of spermatogonial cells,primary spermatocytes,and secondary spermatocytes (P ＜ 0.05).Conclusion:CER can damage the testicular ultrastructure and increase the apoptosis of spermatogenic cells of the male rat in a time-dependent manner,and the apoptosis of spermatogenic cells may be associated with the damage to mitochondria.