Investigation of gene expression levels in thyroid tissues of rats treated with Wi-Fi electromagnetic wave (2.4-3 GHz Wi-Fi RF-EMF)

In this study, it was aimed to examine the effects of wireless waves applied to rats in the thyroid tissue by evaluating gene expression levels on 12 determined gene regions. 20 healthy 16-week-old Wistar albino female rats weighting 200-220 g were used. In the experiments, two groups, control and experimental groups, were formed, and ten female rats were used in each group. While WI-FI electromagnetic field was applied to the experimental group of these rats, nothing was applied to the control group. Many different gene regions, including beta catenin, beta-actin, GAPDH, L3B, HIF 1-Alpha, GSk-3B, TCF, WNT7a, WNT10a, WNT2, Beclin 1 and Beclin 2, ATG5 and ATG12, were investigated. ACTB and GAPDH gene primers were used as a house keeping gene. The fold change values were calculated statistically from the data obtained from the gene expression re-sults. Compared to the control group, it was observed that the experimental group had significant increases in gene expression levels of many gene regions investigated in the study (P<0.05). Among the study groups, 12 different genes such as beta catenin, beta-actin, GAPDH, L3B, HIF 1-Alpha, GSk-3B, TCF, WNT7a, WNT10a, WNT2, Beclin 1 and Beclin 2, ATG5 and ATG12, which we have determined according to the literature, are known to be related to autophagy and oxidative stress. When the expression levels were investigated, it was determined that the expression coefficients of all the genes studied in the wnt/ss catenin pathway in the experimental group of rats exposed to the Wi-Fi EM field, except for ATG5 and ATG12, were quite high, and there was significant differences between the groups.