Exposure to Electromagnetic Field during Gestation Adversely Affects the Electrophysiological Properties of Purkinje Cells in Rat Offspring

Prenatal adverse effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMF) exposure on nervous system are an issue of major concern.

Thus, in this study we evaluated the membrane current flow properties of Purkinje neurons after maternal exposure to 900 MHz pulsed RF-EMF.

In this experimental study, during all days of pregnancy, rats in the EMF-exposed group were exposed to 900 MHz pulsed-EMF radiation for 6 h per day. The effects of RF-EMF exposure on the electrophysiological properties of the Purkinje cerebellum neurons from male pups were evaluated by whole-cell patch clamp recordings in current and voltage clamp modes. In voltage-clamp experiments, the holding potential was -60 mV, and a depolarizing voltage step (1000 ms duration) was applied from -60 to +50 mV in 10 mV increments at 2s intervals.

The exposure group demonstrated reduced spontaneous firing associated with upward and rightward shift in I/V curve compared to the control rats. Moreover, the peak amplitude of the current for the exposure pups also revealed a significant decrement. The reversal potential was +40 mV and +20 mV for the control and RF-EMF groups, respectively and showed significant differences between the two groups.

The decrease in ion’s conductance could be attributed to the observed decrease in the voltage onset of the inward current, peak amplitude and voltage shift.