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Magnetic fields protect from apoptosis via redox alteration

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De Nicola M, Cordisco S, Cerella C, Albertini MC, D'Alessio M, Accorsi A, Bergamaschi A, Magrini A, Ghibelli L · 2006

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Static and extremely-low-frequency magnetic fields reduced apoptosis in U937 cells, an effect linked to changes in the cells' internal redox balance.

Plain English Summary

Summary written for general audiences

Researchers exposed U937 cells to static magnetic fields at 6 mT and found a strong increase of reactive oxygen species and a decrease of glutathione levels after 2 hours of exposure. Extremely-low-frequency magnetic fields also affected intracellular glutathione, starting from a threshold at 0.09 mT. ELF magnetic fields protected U937 from apoptosis, but this ability was limited to the ELF intensities able to alter redox equilibrium. When the cells' redox state was artificially altered, magnetic fields failed to affect apoptosis, suggesting a correct intracellular redox state is required for the antiapoptotic effect.

Why This Matters

The study used U937 cells to investigate how magnetic fields interact with the cells' internal chemical environment. Apoptosis is the process by which cells deliberately self-destruct, and the researchers examined whether magnetic fields could reduce this process when it was triggered by damaging agents. The redox balance inside cells was measured through reactive oxygen species and glutathione levels, both of which shifted after 2 hours of magnetic field exposure. To test whether the redox state was truly necessary, the team artificially created either an oxidative environment by depleting glutathione with BSO, or a reducing environment with DTT. In both artificially altered conditions, magnetic fields lost their ability to reduce apoptosis, supporting the idea that the redox pathway may be part of how magnetic fields antagonize apoptosis.

Exposure Details

Magnetic Field
0.07, 1 & 0.6 mT
Exposure Duration
2 h, 4 h, 72 h

Exposure Context

This study used 0.07, 1 & 0.6 mT for magnetic fields:

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 Exposure Level in ContextStudy Exposure Level in ContextThis study: 0.07, 1 & 0.6 mTExtreme Concern - 5 mGFCC Limit - 2,000 mGEffects observed in the Extreme Concern range (Building Biology)FCC limit is 3 times higher than this level

Study Details

We show here that static MFs with intensity of 6 mT significantly alter the intracellular redox balance of U937 cells.

A strong increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and a decrease of glutathione (GSH) intracellular...

Cite This Study
De Nicola M, Cordisco S, Cerella C, Albertini MC, D'Alessio M, Accorsi A, Bergamaschi A, Magrini A, Ghibelli L (2006). Magnetic fields protect from apoptosis via redox alteration Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1090:59-68, 2006.
Show BibTeX
@article{m_2006_magnetic_fields_protect_from_343,
  author = {De Nicola M and Cordisco S and Cerella C and Albertini MC and D'Alessio M and Accorsi A and Bergamaschi A and Magrini A and Ghibelli L},
  title = {Magnetic fields protect from apoptosis via redox alteration},
  year = {2006},
  doi = {10.1196/annals.1378.006},
  url = {https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1196/annals.1378.006},
}
DOI: 10.1196/annals.1378.006

Cited By (52 papers)

View all 52 citing papers on Semantic Scholar

Quick Questions About This Study

The experiments were conducted on U937 cells.
Exposure produced a strong increase of reactive oxygen species and a decrease of glutathione levels after 2 hours.
Extremely-low-frequency magnetic fields affected intracellular glutathione starting from a threshold at 0.09 mT.
When the redox state was artificially altered in either direction, magnetic fields failed to affect apoptosis.
The researchers suggest that magnetic-field-produced redox alterations may be part of the signaling pathway leading to apoptosis antagonism.