Stimulation of phagocytosis and free radical production in murine macrophages by 50 Hz electromagnetic fields.
Simkó M, Droste S, Kriehuber R, Weiss DG · 2001
View Original AbstractShort-time exposure to 50 Hz electromagnetic fields significantly increased phagocytic uptake and superoxide production in mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages.
Plain English Summary
Researchers examined the effects of 50 Hz electromagnetic fields on phagocytosis and free radical production in mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages exposed in vitro to magnetic field densities of 0.5 to 1.5 mT. Short-time exposure of 45 minutes resulted in a significantly increased phagocytic uptake of 36.3% plus or minus 15.1%, as measured by the internalization rate of latex beads. A significant increase in superoxide production was also detected after exposure to electromagnetic fields. Because co-exposure to electromagnetic fields and TPA showed no additive increase in bead uptake, researchers concluded that the electromagnetic fields-induced stimulation does not involve the protein kinase C signal transduction pathway.
Why This Matters
The study used mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages exposed in vitro, meaning the cells were studied outside a living organism under controlled laboratory conditions. Phagocytosis, the process by which macrophages engulf particles, was measured by tracking how many latex beads the cells internalized. Stimulation with 1 nM TPA produced the same increased phagocytic activity as 1 mT electromagnetic fields. When cells were exposed to both electromagnetic fields and TPA together, there was no further increase in bead uptake beyond what either produced alone. From the absence of additive effects, the researchers concluded that the protein kinase C signal transduction pathway was not involved in the electromagnetic fields-induced stimulation.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 0.5 – 1.5 mT
- Source/Device
- 50 Hz
- Exposure Duration
- 45 min
Exposure Context
This study used 0.5 – 1.5 mT for magnetic fields:
- 25Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 5Kx above the BioInitiative Report recommendation of 1 mG
Building Biology guidelines are practitioner-based limits from real-world assessments. BioInitiative Report recommendations are based on peer-reviewed science. Check Your Exposure to compare your own measurements.
Where This Falls on the Concern Scale
Study Details
Effects of 50 Hz electromagnetic fields on phagocytosis and free radical production were examined in mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages.
Macrophages were in vitro exposed to electromagnetic fields using different magnetic field densities...
Short-time exposure (45 min) to electromagnetic fields resulted in significantly increased phagocyti...
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2001_stimulation_of_phagocytosis_and_463,
author = {Simkó M and Droste S and Kriehuber R and Weiss DG},
title = {Stimulation of phagocytosis and free radical production in murine macrophages by 50 Hz electromagnetic fields.},
year = {2001},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0171933504701727},
}