Testicular Morphological Alterations in 2.45 GHz Wi-Fi Exposed Rat Pups and The Mitigating Effects of Edible Bird Nest

Wi-Fi applications are now a daily necessity for people of all ages including children. However, radiofrequency-radiation emitted from the Wi-Fi devices is sensitive to their developing organ, especially the testis. Nonetheless, sparse study has evaluated the Wi-Fi effect on the developing testis. Hereby, this study evaluated the effect of Wi-Fi exposure on the histomorphometry changes of the testis in the growing Sprague Dawley pups. This study also incorporated edible bird nest (EBN) supplementation to attenuate expected Wi-Fi effects. A total of 30 (n=30) three-week-old pups were divided equally into five groups (n=6): Control, EBN, Wi-Fi 1, Wi-Fi 2, and EBNW. Only the Wi-Fi 2 and EBNW were exposed to active Wi-Fi. Meanwhile EBN and EBNW received 250 mg/kg of EBN supplementation. Both Wi-Fi exposure and EBN supplementation were conducted for 14 consecutive weeks. Findings showed that the Wi-Fi 2 group demonstrated detachment of the spermatogonia cells from the basement membrane, disorientation of the germ cells, presence of empty tubules and mild oedematous area in between seminiferous tubules. Significant decreases in seminiferous tubule diameter and germ cell height were also noted. Supplementation of EBN preserved the cells in the seminiferous tubule of the EBNW group as it appeared normal and intact. Besides, the EBNW group showed a significant increase in the seminiferous tubule diameter. No significant changes were recorded for the spermatogenesis index between all groups. In conclusion, Wi-Fi cause degenerative changes in developing testis while EBN supplementation attenuates the Wi-Fi effects on certain histomorphometry features of the testis.