Post-chronic whole-body exposure of rabbits to 650 MHz electromagnetic fields affects liver, spleen and brain.

We investigated the effects of post (i.e. 12 and 18 months) whole-body chronic (2 years) exposure of rabbits to 650 MHz electromagnetic fields, the same intensity of electromagnetic fields (EMF) produced by broadcasting station, on body-weight and body –mass fluctuation, on the morphological changes of the liver, spleen and brain, on the apoptotic rate modification and on the glycogen distribution in the liver. Two groups of rabbits were continuously exposed for 2 years to EMFs of 650 MHz followed by 12 or 18 months of post-exposure; a third group was sham exposed. Body-weight and –mass changes were evaluated by the conventional methods; morphological changes in the liver, spleen and brain were investigated at light and electron microscope level, by assessing tissue integrity, cell shape, apoptotic rate, glycogen presence and distribution. Significant changes, organ-, time- and individual-dependent, were observed between 2 years exposed rabbits plus 12 months versus 2 years exposed plus 18 months ones. In particular, apoptotic rate increasing or decreasing was exposure time- but not organ-dependent. In summary, whole-body chronic exposure of rabbits to 650 MHz electromagnetic fields gave rice to modifications whose type and intensity were related to time of post-exposure, to the type of organ and to the individual animal. Some of the exposure responses observed only for 2 years plus 12 months but not for 2 years plus 18 months years exposed rabbits, suggested adaptability of animals to long-time recovery after chronic exposure to 650 MHz electromagnetic fields.