Electromagnetic Fields of Mobile Phone Jammer Exposure on Blood Factors in Rats.

BACKGROUND: The increasing demand for using mobile phones has led to increasing mobile phone jammers as well. On the other hand, reports show that exposure to electromagnetic field causes an increase in the incidence of diseases such as leukemia, cancer, depression and failure in pregnancy outcomes; therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the effects of exposure to electromagnetic fields of mobile phone jammers on blood factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty male Wistar immature and thirty mature rats were selected randomly and each one was divided into three groups of ten. The control group did not receive any radiation; the sham group was exposed to a switched-off jammer device and the experimental group was exposed to electromagnetic fields (EMF) radiated by Mobile Phone Jammer daily eight hours for five days a week during forty days. Blood sample was taken from heart and blood factors including PLT, MCHC and RDWCV were measured. The data were analyzed by ANOVA which was followed by Duncan's test. RESULTS: The data from mature rats revealed that jammer usage led to a significant difference in blood factors including RBC, platelet, hemoglobin, hematocrit, MCV and RDWCV (P≤0.05); however, the number of lymphocytes, WBC and MCVH in the blood was the same in all groups. In immature rats, the exposure to jammer did not change RBC, lymphocyte and WBC count, hemoglobin and hematocrit; while, the platelet count along with MCHC, MVC and RDWCV changed by jammer radiation. CONCLUSION: The results exhibited that mobile phone jammer caused frequent changes in blood cell factors.

Improved BALB/c mice granulosa cell functions using purified alginate scaffold.

Alginate, a non-toxic polysaccharide isolated from brown algae, is a widely used 3-dimensional (3D) porous scaffold for the granulosa cell and follicle encapsulation. However, impurities in commercial alginate can lead to alginate biocompatibility reduction. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vitro behavior of the granulosa cells seeded on the purified alginate in varying concentrations compared with matched non-purified ones. We produced a purified alginate using a simple and efficient method. Then, the granulosa cells from mice were isolated and seeded in various concentrations of (0.5%, 1% weight/volume) purified and non-purified alginate. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used on the 3rd, 5th and the 8th days of culture as an index of cell viability and proliferation. Furthermore, the secreted estradiol, progesterone and alkaline phosphatase enzyme (ALP) were measured in the granulosa cells culture media using radioimmunoassay kits. The cells cultured on purified and low concentration alginate showed a higher proliferation rate, sex hormone production and ALP activity. The results confirmed the impact of the alginate hydrogel properties on proliferative rate and function of granulosa cells in a 3D culture system.

Comparison and evaluation of capacitation and acrosomal reaction in freeze-thawed human ejaculated spermatozoa treated with L-carnitine and pentoxifylline.

Cryopreservation is used to preserve the spermatozoa; however, it leads to a reduction in sperm quality. L-carnitine (LC) influences sperm motility and preserves the sperm membrane and DNA integrity. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the protective effects of LC on the membrane integrity of normal human spermatozoa and compare it with pentoxifylline (PT) during cryopreservation. Thirty normal semen samples, prepared by swim-up procedure, were divided into three aliquots: a control without any treatment and two experimental aliquots that were incubated in PT or LC for 30 min. All aliquots were cryopreserved and thawed after 48 hr. To evaluate the percentages of intact, acrosomal-reacted and capacitated spermatozoa, lectin histochemistry and flow cytometry were performed by wheat germ agglutinin, peanut agglutinin and Con A. Statistical analyses were performed using ANOVA. LC supplementation elevated the percentage of noncapacitated spermatozoa compared with control and PT-treated samples and the percentages of acrosomal intact spermatozoa compared with PT-treated samples. PT pre-treatment improved the motility but not membrane integrity. LC supplementation reduced the percentages of acrosomal-reacted spermatozoa compared with the control and PT-treated samples. Although LC did not improve motility, it protected the plasma membrane and acrosomal integrity. Therefore, LC may be the superior choice compared to PT for maintaining the sperm integrity.

Different cell death types determination in juvenile mice ovarian follicles.

Follicular atresia is a phenomenon that leads to evacuation of the ovary from the oocytes and the occurrence of menopause. The contribution of various types of cell death in atresia at different follicular developmental stages requires extensive investigation. In this study, we evaluated 3 types of programmed cell death (PCD), apoptosis, autophagy, and necrosis, in juvenile mouse ovary when we can observe all follicular stages as well as atresia. Ovaries from juvenile mice on the 21st post-natal (PN) day were prepared histologically for terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) to evaluate apoptosis and immunohistochemistry for beclin-1 to evaluate the autophagy marker. Necrotic cell death was also assessed by penetration of propidium iodide (PI). The count and percentage of the labeled follicles at different stages in the ovaries were evaluated and compared using the Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests. We detected TUNEL-positive granulosa cells in pre-antral and antral follicles but not in the primordial and primary follicles. Somatic cells and oocytes of primordial, primary, pre-antral and antral follicles reacted to beclin-1. The percentage of the PI-labeled primordial and primary follicles were significantly higher than the beclin-1 positive (P=0.01 and P=0.01). In conclusion, we showed that apoptosis, autophagy, and necrosis play a role in follicular atresia and the contributions of each one depends on the follicular stages. It was also demonstrated that necrosis happens particularly in the small follicles while in the large one, all three cell death types occurred with an equal ratio.

The effect of the follicular fluid on sperm chromatin quality in comparison with conventional media.

BACKGROUND: Follicular fluid (FF) is biological fluid rich in nutrients, growth factors, hormones and may affect the sperm quality. Sperm washing has been done using conventional media in laboratory procedure so far. AIM: This study aimed to investigate the effects of FF on survival and maintenance of chromatin integrity post swim up. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Each washed semen sample was divided into two parts; the control group was incubated in the media, and the experimental groups incubated in the media containing 10% follicular fluid. Smears were prepared after 20 min, 180 min, 24 hours and no incubation times. Sperm chromatin changes like protamine, histone, DNA denaturation, sperm chromatin stability and motility were evaluated at different times. RESULTS: Incubation of sperm in the follicular fluid increased sperms with normal histone, normal chromatin protamine and sperm with normal head size (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Administration of follicular fluid into the culture media of the sperms that had been separated by swim up method could improve the sperm quality. Further studies are recommended for understanding the mechanism of the structural change of the sperm chromatin.