Oxidative stress-mediated skin damage in an experimental mobile phone model can be prevented by melatonin.

Ayata A, Mollaoglu H, Yilmaz HR, Akturk O, Ozguner F, Altuntas I.

J Dermatol. 31(11):878-883, 2004

Most mobile phones emit 900 MHz of radiation that is mainly absorbed by the external organs. The effects of 900 MHz of radiation on fibrosis, lipid peroxidation, and anti-oxidant enzymes and the ameliorating effects of melatonin (Mel) were evaluated in rat skin.

Thirty Wistar-Albino rats were used in the study. The experimental groups were: the control group, the irradiated group (IR), and the irradiated+Mel treated group (IR+Mel).

A dose of 900 MHz, 2 W radiation was applied to the IR group every day for 10 days (30 min/day). The IR+Mel group received 10 mg/kg/day melatonin in tap water for 10 days before the irradiation.

At the end of the 10th day, a skin specimen was excised from the thoracoabdominal area. The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydroxypyroline and the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and catalase (CAT) were studied in the skin samples.

MDA and hydroxyproline levels and activities of CAT and GSH-Px were increased significantly in the IR group compared to the control group (p<0.05) and decreased significantly in the IR+Mel group (p<0.05). SOD activity was decreased significantly in the IR group and this decrease was not prevented by the Mel treatment.

These results suggest that rats irradiated with 900 MHz suffer from increased fibrosis and lipid peroxidation (LPO). Mel treatment can reduce the fibrosis and LPO caused by radiation.