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Morphological alteration of the hippocampal synapses in rats prenatally exposed to magnetic resonance imaging magnetic fields

Jiang Mali, Han Taizhen, Yang Dongwei, Chen Mingxia

Department of Physiology,School of Medicine,Xi^an Jiaotong University.Xi^an 710061,Shaanxi；China

Abstract

When the offspring were 1, 2, or 5-month-old, the synaptic morphologic parameters were measured in female offspring. In the 2-month-old MRI group, the curvature of synaptic interface, the length of active zone and the surface density per unit volume (S_(v)) of active zone in the dentate gyrus (DG) decreased significantly, and the width of synaptic cleft increased in the CA1 area. In the 5-month-old MRI group, the width of synaptic cleft increased, the thickness of postsynaptic density and the curvature of synaptic interface decreased significantly in the CA1 region, and the width of synaptic cleft increased in the DG. No significant change was observed in the 1-month-old group. These results suggest that prenatal exposure to themedical magnetic fields causs synaptic ultrastructural changes. The relationship of these changes with behavioral impairments was discussed.

Key words: Learning;Memory;Synapse;Hippocampus;Delayed effects of prenatal exposure;Magnetic resonance imaging;Magnetic fields

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Citing This Article：

Jiang Mali, Han Taizhen, Yang Dongwei, Chen Mingxia. Morphological alteration of the hippocampal synapses in rats prenatally exposed to magnetic resonance imaging magnetic fields. Acta Physiol Sin 2003; 55 (6): (in Chinese with English abstract).