Protective effect of zingiber officinale on mobile phone induced rat brain injury.

Objective: To observe the protective effect of zingiber officinale against radio frequency (RF) radiation-induced oxidative stress on rat brain due to 3G mobile phone. Study Design: Prospective Experimental study. Setting: Department of Anatomy, BMSI, JPMC, Karachi. Period: January to March 2018. Material & Methods: Twenty four healthy, adult, Albino rats, 3-4 months of age, weighing 150-300 gm were acquired. They were sorted into four groups. Group A was marked as control, Group B was exposed to 3G mobile phone 2100MHz radiation 24 hours daily, Group C was exposed to same dose of radiation as group B along with zingiber officinale 250mg/kg/day orally, and Group D was given same dose of zingiber officinale as in group C. The rats were euthanized at end of study period after recording their final weight. Brain of rats was removed and weighed. It was processed for haematoxylin and eosin stain to observe general morphology of cerebellum. Results: The data displayed an insignificant increase in final body weight and absolute brain weight in group B animals as compared to control, whereas an insignificant increase and insignificant decrease was observed in body weight and absolute weight of brain when group C was compared with group B respectively. Microscopic examination of cerebellum in H & E stained sections revealed distortion of cellular architecture in group B as compared to control. Tissue sections from group C demonstrated significant restoration of cerebellar architecture. Results of group D were similar to control. Conclusion: Cell phones emit radiation causing damage to brain, especially cerebellum, however, concurrent use of ginger significantly ameliorates this damaging effect.