この論文は、携帯電話RF電磁界の急性または慢性ばく露により、水チャネルタンパク質であるアクアポリン-4（AQP-4）の発現を上方調節するか否かを調べた。マウスを対象に、急性ばく露実験では900MHzの遠方電磁界へのSAR 4 W/kg の60分間全身ばく露を1回、長期ばく露実験では同様の60分間ばく露を連続5日／週で104週間与えた。対照としては「擬似ばく露群」の他に、ばく露モジュールによる拘束ストレスの対照としての「ケージ内自由行動群」、AQP-4を上方調節する薬剤を投与した「ポジティブ・コントロール群」を用いた。両方のばく露後における脳切片検査の結果、「擬似ばく露群」、「ケージ内自由行動群」に比較して「ばく露群」の脳におけるAQP-4発現の増加はなかった。このことは、血液脳関門の透過性に顕著な増加はないことを示唆している。
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Aquaporins are a family of small hydrophobic membrane proteins that serve as a selective pore through which water traverses the plasma membrane of different cell types. Aquaporin-4 is up-regulated in cerebral oedema of vasogenic type where there is increased blood-brain barrier permeability. The authors immunostained brains for aquaporin-4, which had previously been used in vascular tracer studies with albumin (Finnie et al. 2001, Finnie et al. 2002, and Finnie and Blumbergs 2004).
10 mice were acutely exposed, 10 mice were long-term exposed, 20 mice were sham-exposed and 20 mice were cage control animals (10 for each exposure condition). A positive control group was given a clostridial toxin known to cause microvascular endothelial injury, severe vasogenic oedema and up-regulation of aquaporin-4.
There was no increase in aquaporin-4 expression in mouse brains exposed to mobile phone microwaves compared to controls (sham exposure and cage control) brains after short or long-term exposure, while aquaporin-4 was substantially upregulated in the brains of mice given the clostridial toxin.
The authors conclude that brains exposed to mobile phone radiofrequency fields for a short or long duration did not show any immunohistochemically detectable up-regulation of the water channel protein, aquaporin-4, suggesting that there was no significant increase in blood-brain barrier permeability.
