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. 2024 Mar 7;14(6):828.
doi: 10.3390/ani14060828.

The Distribution of Boars Spermatozoa in Morphometrically Distinct Subpopulations after In Vitro Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Radiation at 2500 MHz and Their Motility

Ivona Žura Žaja  1 , Silvijo Vince  2 , Ivan Butković  2 , Kim Senaši  3 , Nina Poljičak Milas  4 , Krešimir Malarić  5 , Martina Lojkić  2 , Ivan Folnožić  2 , Suzana Milinković Tur  1 , Mario Kreszinger  6 , Marko Samardžija  2 , Snježana Čipčić  7 , Nikolino Žura  7 , Mario Ostović  8 , Marinko Vilić  1
Affiliations

The Distribution of Boars Spermatozoa in Morphometrically Distinct Subpopulations after In Vitro Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Radiation at 2500 MHz and Their Motility

Ivona Žura Žaja et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Anthropogenic radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation (RF-EMR) from wireless technologies has increased dramatically. The boar semen used for artificial insemination is essential in sustaining the pig industry, and additionally it is also exposed to the effects of the RF-EMR of wireless technologies. Furthermore, there are no data on the effects of RF-EMR on semen quality, and this is the first analysis of sperm's morphometric parameters for assessing the effect of RF-EMR on the spermatozoa subpopulations of boars. This study investigated the effect of RF-EMR on in vitro exposed breeding boar semen spermatozoa motility and the proportions of spermatozoa subpopulations according to their morphometric head and tail parameters. The semen samples of 12 boars were divided into control and experimental groups. The samples in the experimental group were exposed in a gigahertz transverse electromagnetic chamber at a frequency of 2500 MHz (the frequency band used in 5G technology) and an electric field strength of 10 Vm-1 for two hours. After exposure, the spermatozoa motility was evaluated for both groups. A morphometric analysis of the semen smears was performed using SFORM software (Version 1.0; VAMS, Zagreb, Croatia). The progressive spermatozoa motility was significantly reduced in the experimental group (74.7% vs. 85.7%). PC analysis and cluster analysis revealed two spermatozoa subpopulations: S1, spermatozoa with a more regular head shape and a smaller midpiece outline, and S2, spermatozoa with a more elongated head shape and a larger midpiece outline. The experimental semen samples had a greater proportion of the S1 spermatozoa subpopulation (68.2% vs. 64.4%). The effect of RF-EMR at 2500 MHz on the in vitro exposed boar semen resulted in decreased progressive spermatozoa motility and a lower proportion of the spermatozoa subpopulation with a higher fertilizing potential.

Keywords: boars; exposure; morphometric analysis; radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation; spermatozoa subpopulations.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Gigahertz transverse electromagnetic (GTEM) chamber. View of the GTEM chamber in which the boar semen samples were placed together with a digital thermometer.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Two subpopulations of boar spermatozoa. The figure shows that two optimal subpopulations were obtained using the values of the equalized box criterion.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Proportion of spermatozoa subpopulations in control and experimental semen samples groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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