Erythropoietic changes in rats after 2.45 GJz nonthermal irradiation

The purpose of this study was to observe the erythropoietic changes in rats subchronically exposed to radiofrequency microwave (RF/MW) irradiation at nonthermal level. Adult male Wistar rats (N=40) were exposed to 2.45 GHz continuous RF/MW fields for 2 hours daily, 7 days a week, at 5-10 mW/cm2. Exposed animals were divided into four subgroups (n=10 animals in each subgroup) in order to be irradiated for 2, 8, 15 and 30 days. Animals were sacrified on the final irradiation day of each treated subgroup. Unexposed rats were used as control (N=24). Six animals were included into the each control subgroup. Bone marrow smears were examined to determine absolute counts of anuclear cells and erythropoietic precursor cells. The absolute erythrocyte count, haemoglobin and haematocrit values were observed in the peripheral blood by an automatic cell counter. The bone marrow cytogenetic analysis was accomplished by micronucleus (MN) tests. In the exposed animals erythrocyte count, haemoglobin and haematocrit were increased in peripheral blood on irradiation days 8 and 15. Concurrently, anuclear cells and erythropoietic precursor cells were significantly decreased (p < 0.05) in the bone marrow on day 15, but micronucleated cells' frequency was increased. In the applied experimental condition, RF/MW radiation might cause disturbance in red cell maturation and proliferation, and induce micronucleus formation in erythropoietic cells.