Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effect of WiFi signal exposure in utero and early life on neurodevelopment and behaviors of rats

  • Research Article
  • Published:
Environmental Science and Pollution Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The aim of this study is to examine the long-term effects of prenatal and early-life WIFI signal exposure on neurodevelopment and behaviors as well as biochemical alterations of Wistar rats. On the first day of pregnancy (E0), expectant rats were allocated into two groups: the control group (n = 12) and the WiFi-exposed group (WiFi group, n = 12). WiFi group was exposed to turn on WiFi for 24 h/day from E0 to postnatal day (PND) 42. The control group was exposed to turn-off WiFi at the same time. On PND7-42, we evaluated the development and behavior of the offspring, including body weight, pain threshold, and swimming ability, spatial learning, and memory among others. Also, levels of proteins involved in apoptosis were analyzed histologically in the hippocampus in response to oxidative stress. The results showed that WiFi signal exposure in utero and early life (1) increased the body weight of WiFi + M (WiFi + male) group; (2) no change in neuro-behavioral development was observed in WiFi group; (3) increased learning and memory function in WiFi + M group; (4) enhanced comparative levels of BDNF and p-CREB proteins in the hippocampus of WiFi + M group; (5) no neuronal loss or degeneration was detected, and neuronal numbers in hippocampal CA1 were no evidently differences in each group; (6) no change in the apoptosis-related proteins (caspase-3 and Bax) levels; and (7) no difference in GSH-PX and SOD activities in the hippocampus. Prenatal WiFi exposure has no effects on hippocampal CA1 neurons, oxidative equilibrium in brain, and neurodevelopment of rats. Some effects of prenatal WiFi exposure are sex dependent. Prenatal WiFi exposure increased the body weight, improved the spatial memory and learning function, and induced behavioral hyperactivity of male rats.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

References

  • Aït-Aïssa S, Billaudel B, Poulletier De Gannes F et al (2012) In utero and early-life exposure of rats to a Wi-Fi signal: screening of immune markers in sera and gestational outcome. Bioelectromagnetics 33:410–420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Altunkaynak B, Altun G, Yahyazadeh A, et al (2016) Different methods for evaluating the effects of microwave radiation exposure on the nervous system. J Chem Neuroanat [J] 75:62–9

  • At-Assa S, Gannes FPD, Taxile M et al (2013) In situ expression of heat-shock proteins and 3-nitrotyrosine in brains of young rats exposed to a WiFi signal in utero and in early life. Radiat Res 179:707–716

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Banaceur S, Banasr S, Sakly M et al (2013) Whole body exposure to 2.4 GHz WIFI signals: effects on cognitive impairment in adult triple transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (3xTg-AD). Behav Brain Res 240:197–201

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bayat M, Karami N, Karimi M et al (2023) Chronic exposure to 245 GHz microwave radiation improves cognition and synaptic plasticity impairment in vascular dementia model. Int J Neurosci 133(2):111–122

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Castaño-Vinyals G, Sadetzki S, Vermeulen R et al (2022) Wireless phone use in childhood and adolescence and neuroepithelial brain tumours: results from the international MOBI-Kids study. Environ Int 160:107069

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Çelik Ö, Kahya MC, Nazıroğlu M (2016) Oxidative stress of brain and liver is increased by Wi-Fi (2.45GHz) exposure of rats during pregnancy and the development of newborns. J Chem Neuroanat 75:134–139

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dasdag S, Bilgin HM, Akdag MZ et al (2008) Effect of long term mobile phone exposure on oxidative-antioxidative processes and nitric oxide in rats. Biotechnol Biotechnol Equip 22:992–997

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dubreuil D, Jay T, Edeline JM (2003) Head-only exposure to GSM 900-MHz electromagnetic fields does not alter rat’s memory in spatial and non-spatial tasks. Behav Brain Res 145:51–61

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foster KR, Moulder JE (2015) Can Wi-Fi affect brain function? Radiat Res 184(RR14282):14281

    Google Scholar 

  • Guan X, Li X, Yang X et al (2019) The neuroprotective effects of carvacrol on ischemia/reperfusion-induced hippocampal neuronal impairment by ferroptosis mitigation. Life Sci 235:116795

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Huttner HB, Bergmann O, Salehpour M et al (2014) The age and genomic integrity of neurons after cortical stroke in humans. Nat Neurosci 6:801–803

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamali K, Taravati A, Sayyadi S et al (2018) Evidence of oxidative stress after continuous exposure to Wi-Fi radiation in rat model. Environ Sci Pollut Res [J] 25(35):35396–35403

  • Kheifets L, Repacholi M, Saunders R et al (2005) The sensitivity of children to electromagnetic fields. Pediatrics 116:303–313

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim J-W, Seung H, Kim KC et al (2017) Agmatine rescues autistic behaviors in the valproic acid-induced animal model of autism. Neuropharmacology 113:71–81

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kumlin T, Iivonen H, Miettinen P et al (2007) Mobile phone radiation and the developing brain: behavioral and morphological effects in juvenile rats. Radiat Res 168:471–479

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Le Quément C, Zhadobov M, Desmots F et al (2012) Whole-genome expression analysis in primary human keratinocyte cell cultures exposed to 60GHz radiation. Bioelectromagnetics 33:147–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mortazavi S, Shojaei-Fard M, Haghani M et al (2013) Exposure to mobile phone radiation opens new horizons in Alzheimer’s disease treatment. J Biomed Phys Eng 3:109–112

    Google Scholar 

  • Nazıroğlu M, Yüksel M, Köse SA et al (2013) Recent reports of Wi-Fi and mobile phone-induced radiation on oxidative stress and reproductive signaling pathways in females and males. J Membr Biol 246(869):875

    Google Scholar 

  • Othman H, Ammari M, Rtibi KS et al (2017a) Postnatal development and behavior effects of in-utero exposure of rats to radiofrequency waves emitted from conventional WiFi devices. Environ Toxicol Pharmacol 52:239–247

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Othman H, Ammari M, Sakly M et al (2017b) Effects of prenatal exposure to WIFI signal (2.45GHz) on postnatal development and behavior in rat: Influence of maternal restraint. Behav Brain Res 326:291–302

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ozben T (2007) Oxidative stress and apoptosis: impact on cancer therapy. J Pharm Sci 96(9):2181–2196

  • Pallarés ME, Baier CJ, Adrover E et al (2013) Age-dependent effects of prenatal stress on the corticolimbic dopaminergic system development in the rat male offspring. Neurochem Res 38:2323–2335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peter D, Richard F (2010) The effects of body posture, anatomy, age and pregnancy on the calculation of induced current densities at 50 Hz. Radiat Prot Dosimetry [J] 139(4):532–8

  • Redmayne M, Smith E, Abramson MJ (2013) The relationship between adolescents’ well-being and their wireless phone use: a cross-sectional study. Environ Health 12:90

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schneider T, Przewłocki R (2005) Behavioral alterations in rats prenatally exposed to valproic acid: animal model of autism. Neuropsychopharmacology 30:80–89

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Schoeni A, Roser K, Roeoesli M (2015) Memory performance, wireless communication and exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields: a prospective cohort study in adolescents. Environ Int 85:343–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shokri S, Soltani A, Kazemi M et al (2015) Effects of Wi-Fi (2.45 GHz) Exposure on apoptosis, sperm parameters and testicular histomorphometry in rats: a time course study. Cell J 17(2):322–331

  • Soylemezoglu F, Onder S, Tezel GG et al (2003) Neuronal nuclear antigen (NeuN): a new tool in the diagnosis of central neurocytoma. Pathol Res Pract 7:463–468

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang P, Luo Q, Qiao H, et al (2017) The neuroprotective effects of carvacrol on ethanol-induced hippocampal neurons impairment via the antioxidative and antiapoptotic pathways. Oxid Med Cell Longev, 4079425

  • Wu H, Wang X, Gao J et al (2017) Fingolimod (FTY720) attenuates social deficits, learning and memory impairments, neuronal loss and neuroinflammation in the rat model of autism. Life Sci 173:43–54

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu H, Zhang Q, Gao J et al (2018) Modulation of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) attenuates spatial learning and memory impairments in the valproic acid rat model of autism. Psychopharmacology 235:873–886

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhi WJ, Wang LF, Hu XJ (2018) Recent advances in the effects of microwave radiation on brains. Mil Med Res 5:75–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhijian C, Xiaoxue L, Wei Z et al (2013) Studying the protein expression in human B lymphoblastoid cells exposed to 1.8-GHz (GSM) radiofrequency radiation (RFR) with protein microarray. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 433:36–39

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81803255), the Natural Science Foundation of Heilongjiang Province (No. JJ2019LH2215), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Provincial Universities (JFYWH201901), Doctoral Research Initiation Fund (XQBSQDJ201901), Construction Project of Scientific Research and Innovation Team of Harbin Medical University-Daqing (HD-CXTD-202003), and Key Discipline Construction Project of Harbin Medical University-Daqing (HD-ZDXK-202005). The funding sources had no involvement in the conduct of the research or preparation of the manuscript.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Hongmei Wu and Dongyu Min equally contributed to this paper.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nursing, Harbin Medical University, Daqing, China

    Hongmei Wu

  2. The Affiliated Hospital of Liaoning University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shenyang, China

    Dongyu Min

  3. Department of Physiology, Harbin Medical University, No. 39 Xinyang Road, Gaoxin District, DaqingDaqing, 163319, Heilongjiang, China

    Buxun Sun, Yifan Ma, Hongpeng Chen & Peng Wang

  4. Department of Pharmacology, Harbin Medical University, Daqing, China

    Jing Wu, Ping Ren, Jiabi Wu & Yonggang Cao

  5. Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Harbin Medical University, Daqing, China

    Baoshan Zhao

Authors
  1. Hongmei Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Dongyu Min
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Buxun Sun
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yifan Ma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Hongpeng Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Jing Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Ping Ren
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Jiabi Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Yonggang Cao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. Baoshan Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. Peng Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

W. D. M. and P. W. designed the study; B. S., Y. M., P. C., J. W., and B. Z. performed the experiment; P. R., J. W., B. Z., and Y.C. analyzed data; H. W. and D. M. wrote and revised manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peng Wang.

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate

All experiments were conducted in accordance with the National Institutes of Health Guidelines for the Care and Use of Experimental Animals (NIH Publication No. 8023, revised 1978) and approved by the Ethics Committee of Daqing Campus, Harbin Medical University.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Responsible Editor: Mohamed M. Abdel-Daim

Publisher's note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Highlights

• WiFi signal exposure in utero and early life increased the body weight of male rat.

• No change in neuro-behavioral development was observed in WiFi signal exposure group.

• WiFi signal exposure increased learning and memory function of male rat.

• WiFi signal exposure enhanced relative levels of BDNF and p-CREB proteins in the hippocampus.

• No neuronal loss and degeneration were observed in WiFi signal exposure group.

• No change of apoptosis-related proteins (Bax and caspase-3) and activities of SOD and GSH-PX in hippocampus were observed in WiFi signal exposure group.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wu, H., Min, D., Sun, B. et al. Effect of WiFi signal exposure in utero and early life on neurodevelopment and behaviors of rats. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 95892–95900 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29159-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29159-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation