Effect of physical activity and 217-Hz extremely low frequency electromagnetic field on rat locomotor activity

Nowadays the widespread use of cell phones has increased concerns about the biological effects of electromagnetic fields on human body. The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of physical activity in moderating the effects of extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMF) emitted from cell phones on rat locomotor activity.
Material and Male Albino-Wistar rats (no=70) were divided into seven groups: Short and Long- term physical activity; Control, ELF-EMF; Sham; Long-term physical activityႱEMF; Short-term physical activityႱEMF. Short and Long- term physical activity groups were forced to daily treadmill running (30 minutes) for one week and one month, respectively. ELF-EMF group was exposed to ELF-EMF cell phone simulator for three hours during the period. Having placed in the ELF-EMF simulator device, the physical activityႱEMF groups were transferred to treadmill. Locomotor activity were analyzed as distance, time and speed of movement in open field apparatus.
The results showed that the ELF-EMF from cell phones can significantly decrease the locomotor activity in the exposed rats. On the other hand, short and long-term physical activity significantly increased motor activity in the trained rats (P≤0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the combination groups (Physical activityႱEMF) and ELF group in locomotor activity.
The results revealed that the physical activity could not prevent the decrease of locomotor activity caused by ELF-EMF from cell phone.