The effects of low frequency electric field in rat testis

The potential association between man-made electric field and its adverse health effects has created public attention over the past decades. The present study was designed to determine whether intermittent exposure (8 hour on/16 hour off) to horizontal low frequency electric field causes histopathological changes on the rat testis. Eleven adult male Wistar rats were randomized into two groups: sham-exposed group and exposed group. In exposed group, subjects were continuously exposed to 50 Hz horizontal electric field for 8 hours/day throughout the experiment. After 8 weeks, all subjects were sacrificed, their testes were removed and fixed in Bouin's solution for histopathological evaluation. The histological samples were evaluated using semi-quantitative scoring. Serum testosterone levels were measured by an enzyme immunoassay method. Absolute testes weights in exposed group were significantly lower than the control group (p=0.021), although differences in relative testes weights were statistically insignificant. Histological scores of exposed group were significantly different than controls (p=0.005). Many histological alterations, such as focal tubular atrophy, necrosis and degeneration of the seminiferous epithelium were observed in the testes of exposed group, but not in the control group. However, there was no statistically significant difference in serum testosterone levels between the two groups (p=0.273). The present study indicates that testis histology may be significantly affected by low frequency horizontal electric field exposure.