CLINICS 2011;66(7):1237-1245 BASIC RESEARCH DOI:10.1590/S1807-59322011000700020 The therapeutic effect of a pulsed electromagnetic field on the reproductive patterns of male Wistar rats exposed to a 2.45-GHz microwave field Sanjay Kumar, Kavindra Kumar Kesari, Jitendra Behari Bioelectromagnetics Laboratory, School of Environmental Sciences. Jawaharlal Nehru University/New Delhi, India. INTRODUCTION: Environmental exposure to man-made electromagnetic fields has been steadily increasing with the growing demand for electronic items that are operational at various frequencies. Testicular function is particularly susceptible to radiation emitted by electromagnetic fields. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to examine the therapeutic effects of a pulsed electromagnetic field (100 Hz) on the reproductive systems of male Wistar rats (70 days old). METHODS: The experiments were divided into five groups: microwave sham, microwave exposure (2.45 GHz), pulsed electromagnetic field sham, pulsed electromagnetic field (100 Hz) exposure, and microwave/pulsed electromagnetic field exposure. The animals were exposed for 2 hours/day for 60 days. After exposure, the animals were sacrificed, their sperm was used for creatine and caspase assays, and their serum was used for melatonin and testosterone assays. RESULTS: The results showed significant increases in caspase and creatine kinase and significant decreases in testosterone and melatonin in the exposed groups. This finding emphasizes that reactive oxygen species (a potential inducer of cancer) are the primary cause of DNA damage. However, pulsed electromagnetic field exposure relieves the effect of microwave exposure by inducing Faraday currents. CONCLUSIONS: Electromagnetic fields are recognized as hazards that affect testicular function by generating reactive oxygen species and reduce the bioavailability of androgen to maturing spermatozoa. Thus, microwave exposure adversely affects male fertility, whereas pulsed electromagnetic field therapy is a non-invasive, simple technique that can be used as a scavenger agent to combat oxidative stress. KEYWORDS: Microwave; Caspases; Creatine kinase; Testosterone; Infertility. Kumar S, Kesari KK, Behari J. The therapeutic effect of a pulsed electromagnetic field on the reproductive patterns of male Wistar rats exposed to a 2.45-GHz microwave field. Clinics. 2011;66(7):1237-1245. Received for publication on December 10, 2010; First review completed on January 12, 2011; Accepted for publication on March 1, 2011 E-mail: jbehari@hotmail.com Tel.: 91 11-26704323 INTRODUCTION The electromagnetic fields emitted from various sources (e.g., microwave ovens, mobile phones) have been reported to have causative effects on biological systems.1 Electromagnetic fields have many effects on biological systems, but the testes are more sensitive to a variety of stresses, such as hyperther- mia, inflammation, radiation, and exposure, which lead to germ cell apoptosis.2,3 Exposure to various frequencies present in the environment can evoke a number of alterations at the cellular level, such as increased Ca2+ efflux,4 reduced melatonin secretion,5 disturbed antioxidant enzyme balance,6 and the induction of micronuclei.7 Microwave exposure Copyright 2011 CLINICS – This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non- commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. disrupts the seminiferous tubules and reduces the Leydig cell population and testosterone concentration in rats while increasing the LH level.8 It is well established that testosterone is essential for spermatogenesis and the formation of spermatozoa.9 During spermatogenesis, apoptosis plays a critical role in adjusting the appropriate number of proliferating germ cells associated with the surrounding Sertoli cells. The regulation of apoptosis is based on the intracellular dominance of various proteins that induce or inhibit apoptosis, such as BAX, Bcl, caspase-3, and several key enzymes.10 Apoptosis is a cell death process that is characterized by blebbing, the loss of the cell membrane, asymmetry, cell detachment, cell shrinkage, nuclear fragmentation, chromatin condensation, and chromosomal DNA fragmentation, which are elimi- nated by phagocytes.11 Caspases are present as inactive precursors and are activated by caspase initiators through auto-active proteolysis.12 The caspase 8 and 9 initiators and the caspase 3 effector are considered to be the main 1237