Changes in cognitive function, synaptic structure and protein expression after long-term exposure to 2.856 and 9.375 GHz microwaves

Health hazards from long-term exposure to microwaves, especially the potential for changes in cognitive function, are attracting increasing attention. The purpose of this study was to explore changes in spatial learning and memory and synaptic structure and to identify differentially expressed proteins in hippocampal and serum exosomes after long-term exposure to 2.856 and 9.375 GHz microwaves. The spatial reference learning and memory abilities and the structure of the DG area were impaired after long-term exposure to 2.856 and 9.375 GHz microwaves. We also found a decrease in SNARE-associated protein Snapin and an increase in charged multivesicular body protein 3 in the hippocampus, indicating that synaptic vesicle recycling was inhibited and consistent with the large increase in presynaptic vesicles. Moreover, we investigated changes in serum exosomes after 2.856 and 9.375 GHz microwave exposure. The results showed that long-term 2.856 GHz microwave exposure could induce a decrease in calcineurin subunit B type 1 and cytochrome b-245 heavy chain in serum exosomes. While the 9.375 GHz long-term microwave exposure induced a decrease in proteins (synaptophysin-like 1, ankyrin repeat and rabankyrin-5, protein phosphatase 3 catalytic subunit alpha and sodium-dependent phosphate transporter 1) in serum exosomes. In summary, long-term microwave exposure could lead to different degrees of spatial learning and memory impairment, EEG disturbance, structural damage to the hippocampus, and differential expression of hippocampal tissue and serum exosomes. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12964-022-01011-1.