# RF-034 — Separate Chinese programme with functional, morphological and molecular endpoints

Why this matters
This Chinese experiment reports memory-task difficulty alongside tissue and brain-barrier changes in rats. That combination is worth examining across independent programmes. Only the original abstract has been verified here; the whole-body and local head doses differ sharply and must remain separate when considering relevance.

Id: RF-034

Author: Tang et al.

Full Authors: Jun Tang; Yuan Zhang; Liming Yang; Qianwei Chen; Liang Tan; Shilun Zuo; Hua Feng; Zhi Chen; Gang Zhu

Year: 2015

Title: Exposure to 900 MHz electromagnetic fields activates the mkp-1/ERK pathway and causes blood-brain barrier damage and cognitive impairment in rats

Journal: Brain Research

Citation: Tang J, Zhang Y, Yang L, Chen Q, Tan L, Zuo S, Feng H, Chen Z, Zhu G. Exposure to 900 MHz electromagnetic fields activates the mkp-1/ERK pathway and causes blood-brain barrier damage and cognitive impairment in rats. Brain Res. 2015;1601:92-101. doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2015.01.019.

Doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2015.01.019

Pmid: 25598203

Topic: Neuropathology; blood-brain barrier; animal cognition

Verification Group: Original abstract verified

Record Role: Original abstract verified

Featured: False

Exposure: 900 MHz, 1 mW/cm²; 3 h/day for 14 or 28 days. Original abstract reports 0.016 W/kg whole-body and 2 W/kg local head SAR; preserve both, and do not present whole-body value as head dose.

Design: 108 male Sprague-Dawley rats, active/sham; Morris water maze, ultrastructure, Evans blue, immunostaining, Western blot. Full masking/exposure-temperature audit outstanding.

Finding: Original abstract reports reduced water-maze platform crossing/target-quadrant time after 28-day exposure, cellular edema/organelle degeneration, altered BBB/albumin endpoints, increased mkp-1 and ERK dephosphorylation. Exact contrasts, n per assay and effect statistics remain unverified.

Boundary: Original abstract verified but full methods and results inaccessible. Mechanistic measurements do not alone establish that mkp-1/ERK causally mediated injury. Distinct regimen from Salford, not direct replication.

Related: Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing; distinct from Lund/Gazi programme. Separate animals and methods.

Protection Question: Do the combined cognitive, tissue and barrier findings hold up in the original methods and independent experiments? Abstract-only verification and distinct whole-body and head doses limit their use in protection assessment.

Access: Scite bibliographic record; original PubMed abstract; ARPANSA government primary-citation summary used only to locate original

Locator: PMID 25598203 abstract; original pages 92-101 require retrieval

Notice: Scite metadata checked 20 Oct 2026; no editorial notice returned. Primary bibliographic records and targeted notices were checked where retrievable; no retraction or expression of concern located. This is not certification that no notice exists.

Funding: Not established from retrieved abstract.

Conflicts: Not established from retrieved abstract.

Source Url: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2015.01.019

Retrieval Links: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2015.01.019 | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25598203/

Verification Date: 2026-10-20