Potential Cardiotoxic Effects of Electromagnetic Fields on Heart Health: a Rat Model Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24925/turjaf.v14i3.717-722.8425Keywords:
Electromagnetic field, heart, body weight, histopathological changes, rat modelAbstract
Electromagnetic fields (EMF) have become an area of increasing concern due to their widespread use in modern technology. In particular, the potential cardiotoxic effects of EMF exposure on heart health have prompted significant scientific interest in recent years. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of EMF exposure on heart tissue, focusing on histopathological changes, as well as body weight, heart weight, and heart tissue volume in a rat model. Three-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly allocated into two sets: one group as the control (n = 8) and the other as the electromagnetic field exposure group (EMF-G) (n = 8). The rats in the EMF-G group were subjected to 900-megahertz electromagnetic fields for 1 hour daily over a span of 25 days (postnatal days 21–46), while the control group remained unexposed for comparison. Histopathological evaluations were performed using a semi-quantitative 0–3 scoring scale. Histological analysis revealed significant structural damage in the heart tissue of the EMF-exposed group, including vacuolization of cardiomyocytes, cellular disorganization, inflammatory cell infiltration, edema, pyknotic nuclei, and myocyte degeneration. There were no significant variations in heart weight or volume between the control and EMF groups (p > 0.05). However, EMF exposure led to a notable increase in body weight (p < 0.05). These findings suggest that EMF exposure may induce cardiotoxic effects in heart tissue, potentially through oxidative stress and inflammatory pathways, without affecting the overall heart weight and volume. The results highlight the need for further investigations into the long-term effects of EMF exposure on cardiovascular health and organ function.
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