Adaptive and enhanced radioresponses of the developing mouse brain by pre- and postirradiation exposure to 2.45 GHz microwaves

High vulnerability of the developing fetal brain to ionizing radiation has been widely acknowledged in all mammalian species including humans. No unequivocal data, however, are available on the biological effect on non-ionizing microwave radiation. Microwave exposure at a level sufficient to produce hyperthermia in experimental animals was reported to affect the developing brain, but not at lower levels. Undifferentiated neural cells are particularly susceptible to the killing effect of ionizing radiation. The present series of experiments examined the effect of microwave radiation, which caused a slight temperature rise, on the cell death in the brain, and then investigated combined effects of microwave and gamma-radiations. (author). 12 refs., 3 figs