Hypothesis: safety of using mobile phones on male fertility.

Abstract

I. Fejes, Z. Z avaczki, S. Kolosz ar, J. Szöll} osi, J. Daru, L. Kov acs, and A. P al Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary A recent review paper from Derias et al. [3] described the growing concern over the safety of using mobile phones. Our own results lend support to their conclusions as we have observed relationships between the duration of possession of a cell phone and the spermatozoa motility characteristics and also between the duration of daily transmission and the spermatozoa motility characteristics [5]. Although rats are frequently used as laboratory animals for various studies, the results must be interpreted with caution, as the different species have different sensitivities to environmental effects and rats are famous for their ability to adapt. Conclusions may also be drawn of the harmful effects on fertility from studies on different human tissues. There have been publications concerning effects on the central nervous system, such as alterations in the electroencephalogram pattern, the sleeping pattern or even the neuroendocrine functions [1, 2, 7, 9]. de Seze et al. found no alterations in the levels of pituitary hormones in association with prolonged cell phone use [4], whereas Burch et al. demonstrated a reduced 6-hydroxymelatonin sulphate (6OHMS) level in the urine among those using a cell phone for over 25 minutes= day; 6-OHMS is the urinary metabolite reflecting the serum level of the pineal hormone melatonin [1]. Melatonin is known to be an antioxidant that protects against lipid peroxidation in the retina, brain, liver cells, and even human sperm [6]. The electromagnetic radiation emitted by cell phones may cause DNA breakage in cells in the male genital tract, as this can occur in a low-frequency electromagnetic field. In vitro studies appear justified to investigate the increased numbers of chromosome aberrations of the micronuclei in human leucocytes and DNA breaks [8, 10, 11]. Additionally, a recent pilot study has shown that proteomics may be an effective tool in the search for cell responses to weak stimuli, including cell phone radiation. Multiple cell phone radiation protein targets were found in endothelial cells that participate in basic physiological cell functions such as cell energy production, protein translation, and cytoskeleton-dependent processes. The most important finding from the aspect of spermatozoa movement could well be the decline in the expression of isocitrate-dehydrogenase 3 (NADþ)a, a subunit of the mitochondrial enzyme, which catalyses the conversion of Address correspondence to I. Fejes, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Szeged, H-6725 Szeged, Semmelweis u 1, Hungary. E-mail: fejesimi@yahoo.com Archives of Andrology, 53:105–106, 2007 Copyright # Informa Healthcare ISSN: 0148-5016 print=1521-0375 online DOI: 10.1080/01485010600915202