Energy metabolism and apoptotic effect of microwave radiation on rat myocardial cells

AIM: To investigate the effect of microwave radiation at different intensities on the rat myocardium and its possible mechanism.METHODS: The rats were radiated by the intensity of 500, 1 000, 1 500 and 2 000 W/m² with 2 450 MHz microwave for 6 min. The heart tissue was collected 6 h after microwave radiation. ATP and mitochondria complex Ⅳ and Ⅴ were measured. The changes of the tissue structures were observed under transmission electron microscope. The apoptosis of the myocardial cells was detected by a cell analyzer. The protein level of cleaved caspase-3 was determined by Western blotting.RESULTS: The concentration of ATP and activity of mitochondria complex Ⅳand Ⅴ signi-ficantly decreased compared with control group in the cardiac tissues. The decreased number, morphological abnormalities such as dissolved cavitation, matrix and obvious tumefaction of mitochondria were observed under transmission electron microscope. The microwave radiation induced the apoptosis of myocardial cells in the rats. The cell apoptotic rate and the protein level of cleaved caspase-3 increased with increasing intensity of microwave radiation(P<0.05).CONCLUSION: Microwave radiation has obvious injury effect on the rat heart, which can cause cardiac energy metabolism dysregulation and cardiac myocyte apoptosis.