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Effect of Chronic Low-Intensity Microwave Radiation on Sperm Count,
Sperm Morphology, and Testicular and Epididymal Tissues of Rats
M. Zülküf Akdağ a; M. Salih Celik a; Aydin Ketani b; Yusuf Nergiz c; Mustafa Deniz d; Süleyman Daşağ a
a Department of Biophysics, Medical Faculty of Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey b Department of
Histology and Embryology, Veterinary Faculty of Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey c Department
of Histology and Embryology, Medical Faculty of Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey d Department
of Anatomy, Veterinary Faculty of Dicle University, Diyarbakir, Turkey
To cite this Article Akdağ, M. Zülküf, Celik, M. Salih, Ketani, Aydin, Nergiz, Yusuf, Deniz, Mustafa and Daşağ,
Süleyman'Effect of Chronic Low-Intensity Microwave Radiation on Sperm Count, Sperm Morphology, and Testicular
and Epididymal Tissues of Rats', Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 18: 2, 133 — 145
To link to this Article: DOI: 10.3109/15368379909012907
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3109/15368379909012907
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ELECTRO-
AND
MAGNETOBIOLOGY,
18(2),
133-145 (1999)
EFFECT OF CHRONIC LOW-INTENSITY
MICROWAVE RADIATION ON SPERM
COUNT, SPERM MORPHOLOGY, AND
TESTICULAR AND EPIDIDYMAL TISSUES
OF RATS
M.
Ziilkuf Akdag,'
M.
Salih Celik,' Aydin Ketani; Yusuf Nergiz;
Mustafa Deniz,4 and Siileyman Dqdag'*
'Department of Biophysics
Medical Faculty of Dicle University
Diyarbakir, Turkey
'Department of Histology and Embryology
Veterinary Faculty of Dicle University
Diyarbakir, Turkey
3Department of Histology and Embryology
Medical Faculty of Dicle University
Diyarbakir, Turkey
4Department of Anatomy
Veterinary Faculty of Dicle University
Diyarbakir, Turkey
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was
to
investigate the effect of chronic microwave
exposure on sperm count, sperm morphology, and the morphology
of
rat testis
and epididymes. Continuous wave microwave radiation (9450 MHz) specific
absorption rate
1.80
W/kg
and power density 2.65 mW/cm*, was administered
for
1
h
a
day for
13,26,
39,
and 52 days, which corresponded to
1,
2,
3,
and
4 cycles of seminiferous epithelium,
in
mature male Sprague-Dawley rats. The
rats were sacrificed under Ketalar anesthesia the day after exposure. Then
epididymal sperm count, sperm morphology, and the weights of testis, epidi-
dymes, seminal vesicles, and prostate were determined. Histologic examina-
tions of testis and epididymes were performed. The parameters were compared
with sham groups. Epididymal sperm count decreased significantly only
in
*To whom correspondence should be addressed,
at
the Department
of
Biophysics, Medical
Faculty
of
Dicle
University,
21280,
Diyarbakir, Turkey.
E-mail:
dasdag@dicle.edu.tr
133
Copyright
0
1999
by
Marcel Dekker,
Inc.
www.dekker.com
Downloaded By: [TÜBTAK EKUAL] At: 06:16 13 November 2009
134
AUDAG
ET
AL
the 52-day exposure group
(p
<
0.05).
The percentage of abnormal sperm
count changed significantly in
the
26-, 39-, and 52-day exposure groups
(p
<
0.05,
p
<
0.05,
and
p
<
0.001, respectively). The weights of testis and
epididymes also changed significantly
in
the 26-, 39-, and 52-day exposure
groups
(p
<
0.05,
p
<
0.05,
and
p
<
0.05,
respectively). Necrotic tubules,
interstitial edema, perforated and necrotic tubules, decrease of spermatogene-
sis, and absent germinal epithelium
in
some tubules were observed
in
the
exposed rat testes. In addition, we observed atrophy, interstitial edema, mono-
nuclear cell infiltration, and increased fibroblastic activity in the exposed rat
epididymes. We concluded that epididymal sperm count and morphology and
weight and morphology of testis and epididymes were affected by chronic
prolonged microwave exposure. The incidence of symptoms mentioned here
depended on exposure duration.
INTRODUCTION
Developments
in
technology and industry have facilitated human life. However,
environmental pollution occurred as a result of these developments and are threats to
human life. In addition, electromagnetic pollution as ionizing and nonionizing electromag-
netic radiation and high-voltage transmission lines have affected the general population
and occupationally exposed populations (1,2).
Radiofrequency (RF) and microwave (MW) began to
be
used
in
the late 20th cen-
tury, and have become a part of daily life
in
recent years. The interaction of RF and MW
radiation
with
biologic systems and the biologic effects of these radiations have been
investigated for many years. Studies
in
relation to the biologic effects of RF radiation
include a broad spectrum of systems, from bacteria to the cell level (3-6), the chromosome
and DNA level (7-1 l), and the nervous, endocrine, immune, cardiovascular, hematopoi-
etic, and
ocular
systems (1,2,12- 14).
It has been reported that RF/MW radiation produced testis degeneration and de-
creased reproductive capacity
(1
5-19). It was suggested that these effects (found after
high-power density MW exposure), which exceeded the thermoregulation mechanisms of
biologic systems, the prime effect being thermal, stemmed from the thermal sensitivity
of
testes.
In
contrast, Saunders and Kowalczuk (20) reported that acute exposure to the
maximum permissible exposure level of
100
W/mZ has no effect on the testes
in
the ranges
1-3.5 MHz and 300 MHz to
100
GHz
(20).
It
was reported that chronic or acute MW exposure did not alter epididymal sperm
count, daily sperm production, or testicular function (20-25). However,
it
also has been
shown that MW radiation can change sperm count, sperm morphology, and testicular
function and can decrease reproductive capacity (27-30).
Cleary
et
al.
(31) determined that MW radiation decreased
the
fertilization capacity
of epididymal sperm
in
isothermal conditions. However, Hall
et
al.
(32,33) reported that
2.45
GHz
microwave radiation did not alter sperm fertilization capacity, sperm survival,
or
the percentage of abnormal sperm form.
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of chronic MW expo-
sure on the morphology of rat testis and epididymes, sperm count and morphology, and
weights of reproductive organs during one, two, three, and
four
cycles of seminiferous
epithelium.
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CHRONIC LOW-INTENSITY MICROWAVE RADIATION
135
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Animals
Eighty adult Sprague-Dawley male rats (200-250
g)
were caged and fed standard
pellet food during the study. The rats were obtained
from
the Department of Medical
Science Application and Research Center of Dicle University. Eighty rats were separated
into eight groups, four sham-exposed and four exposure groups
(n
=
10).
The animals
were kept on a 14/10-h light/dark schedule. During irradiation, the ambient temperature
(22°C) and relative humidity (45%) were maintained
in
the normal range for these animals.
Microwave Equipment and Exposure
MW equipment used
in
this study included a power supply (Phywe 6868), a clystron
(Phywe
6869).
and a horn antenna (Fig. 1). The power density of 9450 MHz microwave
was 2.65 mW/cm2, and mean total body specific absorption rate (SAR) was
1.80
W/kg.
SARs were calculated by using a radiofrequency radiation dosimetry handbook
(34).
The rats were placed in Perspex cages (20
X
10.5
X
10
cm)
with
ventilation holes
that orientated the long axis of the body parallel to the electric vector but normal to the
magnetic and pointing vector. The cage was situated
in
the far-field region from the horn
antenna
in
an anechoic chamber (70
X
47
X
47 cm). Whole-body exposures of rats were
carried out from beneath the Perspex cage to observe the adverse effects of MW on the
reproductive organs. The measured electric field strength
in
this region was 100 V/m
(Electrofieldmeter Phywe No:0702600).
Male Sprague-Dawley rats were exposed to continuous wave MW radiation
(1
h/
day) for 13, 26, 39, and 52 days, which corresponded to one, two, three, and four cycles
of the semiferous epithelium (35,36). The same experimental conditions were applied to
sham groups except for the microwave exposure.
The rectal temperatures of all rats were measured immediately before and after expo-
sure
by
using a thermometer probe inserted to a depth of 2.5 cm with a digital thermometer
(Jenway-2103
U.K.)
(see Table 2).
FlGURE
1.
Experimental
design
of
the
microwave exposure
group.
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136
AKDA~;
ET
AL
Histological
Procedure
At the end of the exposure period, rats were sacrificed under Ketalar anesthesia (35
mg/kg, intramuscular). The right testis and epididymes, left testis and epididymes, semina
vesicalis, and prostates of rats were removed and weighed on a digital scale (Mettler AJ
150). The left cauda epididymes of the rats were homogenized with
0.5
M phosphate
buffer (K2HP04, KH,PO,; pH
7.4).
The homogenates were diluted with sperm count
solution. Sperm numbers per milliliter were determined using a hemccytometer (37-39).
To
determine normal and abnormal sperm form, two slides were prepared for each
rat and stained
with
hematoxylin and eosin. Two hundred spermatocytes per slide were
scored and evaluated with respect to sperm form
(40).
The right testis and epididymes were fixed with neutral formalin (10%) for histologic
assessment. After routine histologic processing, tissues were
then
embedded
in
paraffin
wax, sectioned, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Histologic assessments were done
with a light microscope (Olympus BH 2)
(41).
Statistical validation of significant exposure effects was accomplished using the
Mann-Whitney
U
test
(42).
Whole parameters were compared between exposure groups
and sham (control) groups.
RESULTS
Epididymal sperm counts were not significantly changed for 13-, 26-, and 39-day
exposure groups
vs.
their sham groups
(p
>
0.05);
the change was significant for
the
52-
day exposure group
(p
<
0.001) (Table
1).
We considered headless spermatocytes, immature germ cells, small-tail spermato-
cytes, broken tail spermatocytes, and coiled or bent-tailed spermatocytes (25,38,39) to be
abnormal.
No
significant changes were observed for the 13-day exposure group
in
terms of
sperm morphology
(p
>
0.05).
However, normal spermatocyte percentage decreased for
the 26-, 39-, and 52-day exposure groups
(p
<
0.05)
while abnormal spermatocyte percent-
age increased for the same exposure periods
(p
<
0.05,
p
<
0.05,
and
p
<
0.001, respec-
tively) (Table
I).
When we compare the mass of reproductive organs of exposure groups
with
sham
groups, the mass of right testis and left epididymes
in
the
26-day exposure group, left
epididymes
in
the 39-day exposure group, and right epididymes
in
the 52-day exposure
group were found to
be
significant
(p
<
0.05).
No
difference was observed for the 13-
day exposure group
(p
>
0.05).
No
pathology was observed
in
testes of the sham groups (Figs. 2,4). Some necrotic
seminiferous tubules were observed
in
the 13-day MW exposure group. Interstitial edema
and some tubular necrosis and atrophy was observed
in
the
26-day exposure group (Fig.
3); apparent interstitial edema and perforated and necrotic tubules were observed
in
the
39-day exposure group. We also observed disappearance of the germinal epithelium
of
some tubules and necrotic cell rests
in
the tubular lumen of the 52-day exposure group
(Fig.
5).
We observed no pathology
in
the epididymes of sham groups (Fig. 6). We saw
atrophy and some structures like papillae
in
the epididymal sections
of
the 13-day exposure
group. We also observed some metaplasia, interstitial edema, and mononuclear cell
infil-
Downloaded By: [TÜBTAK EKUAL] At: 06:16 13 November 2009
CHRONIC LOW-INTENSITY MICROWAVE RADIATION
137
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138
AKDAG
ET
AL
FIGURE
2.
Testis of rat exposed to sham for
1
h/day for
26
days. Note the normal appearance
of the interstitial tissue (arrows)
(H&E,
X41).
tration in the mucosal epithelium
of
epididymes exposed for
26
days (Fig.
7).
Disorders
of the lumenal walls, interstitial edema, and increased fibroblastic activity were evident
in
epididymal sections
at
39
days of exposure. In addition, interstitial edema, increased
fibroblastic activity, and perforated epididymal walls were observed
in
sections after
52
days
of
exposure.
Rectal temperatures of rats after exposure were found to be lower after
26
and 39
days of exposure
(p
<
0.001),
and the difference between rectal temperatures before and
after exposure was also found
to
be
significant for 13-,
26-,
and 39-day exposures
(p
<
0.05,
p
<
0.005,
and
p
<
0.001, respectively) (Table
2).
FIGURE
3.
Cross
sections of testis exposed to microwave
for
1
h/day
for
26
days. Apart from
normal tubules (arrow), interstitial edema
(a),
tubular necrosis (b), and atrophy (c) are seen
(H&E,
X41).
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CHRONIC LOW-INTENSITY MICROWAVE RADIATION
139
FIGURE
4.
erous
tubules
(arrows)
and
Leydig cells (arrowhead) are present
(H&E,
X41).
Histologic appearance
of
sham-exposed
ral
testis
for
52
days.
Mature normal
seminif-
DISCUSSION
We have explored
MW
radiation
in
our research because of
the
increased use
of
MW and radiofrequency radiation and the increasing number of people exposed to this
radiation. Moreover, studies of the reproductive effects of non-ionizing electromagnetic
radiation have been engendered by the increasing number of people exposed occupation-
ally to such radiation. Some studies have reported that acute and chronic MW exposure
did not affect rat epididymal sperm count and daily sperm production (2 1-26). However,
Lebovitz
et
al. (29) have reported that exposure of pulse-modulated MW radiation for 90
min altered epididymal sperm counts and daily sperm production at 6.5, 13, 26, and 52
days after exposure.
In
this study, we showed that chronic low-intensity microwave radiation decreased
epididymal sperm count, especially for 52 days of exposure
(p
<
0.01) (Table
1).
This
result confirmed our opinion that increasing exposure time
will
increase the effect oc-
curring
in
a biologic system. Cleary
et
al.
(31) reported that RF radiation reduced the
fertilizing capacity of sperm. Yue-Limin
et
al.
(30)
and Kowalczuk
et
al.
(26) determined
that sperm count decreased after MW exposure. McRee
et
al.
(27) found that sperm count
and reproductive capacity decreased after MW exposure during embryogeny. The results
of the 52-day exposure group
in
the present study supported the results mentioned above
(26,27,30,3 1).
Parameters such as sperm count, sperm motility, survival sperm count, daily sperm
production, and the endocrine function of the testis affect fertility. One of the most impor-
tant parameters that affects fertility is the percentages of normal and abnormal sperm
(43).
If
a person has enough sperm but many are abnormal, the person can be infertile. There-
fore,
it
is important to know whether or not RF and MW radiation affects sperm morphol-
ogy.
In
this study, we determined that
in
all exposure groups except 13 days, the percentage
of abnormal sperm forms increased depending on the exposure time. Kowalczuk
et
al.
(26) reported that 2.45 GHz
MW
radiation increased abnormal sperm count and altered
sperm morphology. Yue-Limin
et
al.
(3 1) suggested that MW radiation affected the proce-
Downloaded By: [TÜBTAK EKUAL] At: 06:16 13 November 2009
140
AKDA~
ET
AL
FIGURE
5.
Cross
sections of testis exposed to microwave for
1
hlday for
52
days. Note the disap-
pearance of some seminiferous tubule epithelium (arrows)
and
necrotic cell
rests
(arrowheads)
in
the
lumen of seminiferous tubule
(HBrE,
X41).
dure of sperm maturation. The results of 26, 39, and 52 days of exposure
in
this study
supported these findings. Other authors have reported that
MW
and RF radiation did not
affect sperm morphology (25,27,31-33). Chowdhury and Steinberger (44) identified two
groups of heat-sensitive cells
in
the rat testis after exposure to 43°C for
15
min, the early
primary spermatocytes and
the
later primary and dividing spermatocytes. In addition,
Saunders and Kowalczuk
(17)
reported that early and late primary and secondary sperma-
tocytes were the most sensitive and that type
B
spermatogonia were the least sensitive to
2.45
GHz
or
direct heating. After chronic
MW
exposure, decrease of epididymal sperm
count, increase of abnormal
sperm
count according to exposure time, and alteration of
FIGURE
6.
(H&E,
X41). Histologic appearance of
rat
epididymes exposed to sham for
I
h/day for
26
days
Downloaded By: [TÜBTAK EKUAL] At: 06:16 13 November 2009
CHRONIC LOW-INTENSITY MICROWAVE RADIATION
141
testis and epididymes mass may result from destruction of germ cells that are sensitive
to MW-induced heating.
We also suggest that the difference
in
testis and epididymes mass of exposure groups
is possibly due to necrotic tubules
in
the testis, interstitial edema, and perforated epididy-
ma1 walls
in
epididymes.
The results of this study have also shown that degenerative testis changes depend
on the duration of exposure. These results supported the findings of Varma and Traboulary
(15)
and Gun
et
al.
(16). In addition, the findings of Saunders and Kowalczuk
(17),
Gasin-
ska and Hills (18), Kequn
et
al.
(19),
Rosenthal and Beering (45), and Marha
et
al.
(46)
supported
the
results of this study generally.
The findings
in
this study of atrophy, interstitial edema, and increased fibroblastic
activity
in
the epididymes show that MW radiation can affect sperm storage conditions.
Therefore, the results mentioned here are also supported by Limn
et
al.
(30).
From the results of rectal temperatures, we can say that testis degeneration was
occasioned by chronic MW exposure. These results are consonant
with
the idea that heat
was induced by MW.
In
addition, this idea agrees with opinion of Saunders and Kowalczuk
(17).
It
is known that the testis is sensitive to elevated temperature, and even maintenance
at normal body temperature will impair spermatogenesis (43). It has also been determined
that this thermal damage is due to failure of the early transitional cells to develop, and
of spermatocytes to complete maturational divisions
(1
8).
When spermatogonial products such as primary
or
secondary spermatocytes are le-
thally damaged, the entire chain of spermatogenesis is disrupted
(I
8).
We suggest that
heat may cause protein denaturation of cytoplasmic bridges of the syncytium, that damage
occurs
in
some of the cells
in
the syncytium, and that
it
also might cause death of proliferat-
ing cells by destroying mitogenic polypeptides
in
Sertoli cells, which regulate cell cycle
kinetics and influence both spermatogonia and preleptotene spermatocytes
(1
8).
Due to differences in body size, geometry, and physiologic responses of rats
vs.
humans, extrapolation of our results to humans is not straightforward, and any such corn-
FlCURE
7.
Cross
sections of epididymes exposed
to
microwave for
1
h/day
for
26
days.
Metapla-
sia
(larger
arrow), interstitial edema (arrowhead),
and
mononuclear cell infiltration (small arrows)
are present on the mucosal epithelium of epididymes
(H&E,
X41).
Downloaded By: [TÜBTAK EKUAL] At: 06:16 13 November 2009
L
P
h)
Table
2.
Rectal
Temperatures and Temperature Differences Between
MW
and Sham Exposure Groupsa
13
days
26
days
39
days
52
days
MW
Sham
MW
Sham
MW
Sham
MW
Sham
exposure exposure
p
value exposure exposure
p
value exposure exposure
p
value exposure exposure.
p
value
Before exposure
37.46
2
0.31 37.52
2
0.31
>0.05
36.46
2
0.23 36.37
2
0.44
>0.05
36.72
2
0.37 36.67
2
0.27
>0.05
38.1
2
0.44
37.94
2
0.19
>0.05
After
exposure
38.48
2
0.30 38.35
2
0.22
>0.05
39.05
2
0.19 37.96
2
0.58
<0.01
39.82
t
0.26 38.62
2
0.37
<0.001
38.64
2
0.37 38.46
2
0.28
>0.05
Difference
1.0220.08 0.0820.16
(0.05
2.6620.18 1.59T0.25
<0.001
3.120.28
1.9520.15
<0.001
0.5320.16 0.5720.15
>0.05
"Values
are mean
2
SD. "C.
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CHRONIC LOW-INTENSITY MICROWAVE RADIATION
143
parison should
be
interpreted with great caution. On the other hand, our results show that
prolonged low-density chronic MW exposure can negatively alter the morphology of rat
testis and epididymes and that this degeneration can possibly
be
due to affected germ
cells, sensitive to heat induced by MW.
In
conclusion, to determine mechanisms for the
effect of MW and RF radiation on the testis and germ cells, more extensive molecular
studies should
be
carried out.
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