Short-term exposure to radiofrequency radiation and metabolic enzymes’ activities during pregnancy and prenatal development

ABSTRACT

Radiofrequency radiation (RFR) as an environmental and physical pollutant may induce vulnerability to toxicity and disturb fetal development. Therefore, the potential health effects of short-term mobile phone like RFR exposure (GSM 1800 MHz; 14 V/m, 2 mW/kg specific absorption rate (SAR) during 15 min/day for a week) during pregnancy and also the development of fetuses were investigated. Hepatic glucose regulation and glutathione-dependent enzymes’ capacities were biochemically analyzed in adult (female) and pregnant New Zealand White rabbits. Pregnant rabbits’ two-day-old offspring were included to understand their developmental stages under short-term maternal RFR exposure. We analyzed two regulatory enzymes in the oxidative phase of phosphogluconate pathways to interpret the cytosolic NADPH’s biosynthesis for maintaining mitochondrial energy metabolism. Moreover, the efficiencies of maternal glutathione-dependent enzymes on both the removal of metabolic disturbances during pregnancy and fetus development were examined. Whole-body RFR exposures were applied to pregnant animals from the 15th to the 22nd day of their gestations, i.e., the maturation periods of tissues and organs for rabbit fetuses. There were significant differences in hepatic glucose regulation and GSH-dependent enzymes’ capacities with pregnancy and short-term RFR exposure. Consequently, we observed that intrauterine exposure to RFR might lead to cellular ROS- dependent disturbances in metabolic activity and any deficiency in the intracellular antioxidant (ROS-scavenging) system. This study might be a novel insight into further studies on the possible effects of short-term RF exposure and prenatal development.

KEYWORDS:

• RF
• G6PDH
• 6PGDH
• GSH
• pregnant
• newborn

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from Gazi University Research Foundation.

We would like to acknowledge our heart-felt thanks to Dr. Berivan Tandoğan who kindly helped us during the research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Statement of ethics

Gazi University, Local Ethics Committee for Animals (G.U. ET-06.027) approved our project and experimental protocol.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to the regulations of the Local Ethics Committee

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.