# WEB-051 — Prenatal 3.5 GHz exposure: kidney findings six months later

Why this matters
A developmental exposure may need follow-up long after it ends. This experiment examined offspring kidneys six months after prenatal exposure, with one offspring selected from each litter. The reported tissue and DNA findings extend the questions raised by the programme’s earlier reproductive work.

Id: WEB-051

Author: Gelenli Dolanbay et al.

Full Authors: Elif Gelenli Dolanbay; Fazile Canturk Tan; Hava Bektas; Sumeyye Koc; Salih Varol; Omer Kilic; Unal Uslu; Suleyman Dasdag

Year: 2026

Title: Prenatal 3.5 GHz radiofrequency exposure induces renal histological changes and DNA damage in 6-month-old rats

Journal: Histochemistry and cell biology

Citation: Elif Gelenli Dolanbay; Fazile Canturk Tan; Hava Bektas; Sumeyye Koc; Salih Varol; Omer Kilic; Unal Uslu; Suleyman Dasdag. Prenatal 3.5 GHz radiofrequency exposure induces renal histological changes and DNA damage in 6-month-old rats. Histochemistry and cell biology. 2026. doi:10.1007/s00418-026-02504-7.

Doi: 10.1007/s00418-026-02504-7

Pmid: 42423814

Topic: Developmental susceptibility; Renal tissue responses; Prenatal exposure follow-up

Verification Group: Original text reviewed

Record Role: Original text reviewed

Featured: False

Exposure: 3.5 GHz, 2 h/day during all or the final two weeks of gestation; uterine peak spatial SAR 0.06622 W/kg (1 g), 0.03825 W/kg (10 g).

Design: Twenty-four dams, eight/group; one male offspring/litter at six months; blinded histology, immunostaining and comet assay.

Finding: Exposed offspring showed renal structural changes, increased Beclin-1/LC3 staining and greater DNA fragmentation, strongest after whole-gestation exposure.

Statistics: See the original results; effect sizes were not independently recalculated.

Boundary: Small animal experiment; prenatal dosimetry and thermal conditions limit extrapolation. Autophagy-marker expression does not establish autophagic flux. Relationship to the earlier reproductive cohort is not established.

Related: Istanbul Medeniyet/Van programme with RF-044; shared authors/exposure approach, not established independent replication.

Protection Question: Which exposure conditions reproduce this finding, and what would establish its relevance beyond the experimental model?

Access: Original methods/results and interpretation reviewed; raw data and supplements were not independently audited.

Locator: Original methods and results

Notice: Linked Europe PMC/PubMed notice fields checked 21 October 2026; no correction/retraction surfaced for this record. Publisher/citation screening is not exhaustive.

Funding: Reported funder(s): Istanbul Medeniyet University.

Conflicts: See original disclosure; no independently verified conflict assessment.

Source Url: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-026-02504-7

Retrieval Links: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00418-026-02504-7 | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42423814/ | https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13350153/

Verification Date: 2026-10-21

Discovery Id: TARGETED-20261021-24

Technology Tracks: 5g

Technology Connection: Relevant carrier-frequency research; the record distinguishes actual 5G modulation from other laboratory waveforms.

Publication Type: Original journal research

Study Setting: Animals

Browse Categories: cells