Differential Pro-Inflammatory Responses of Astrocytes and Microglia Involve STAT3 Activation in Response to 1800 MHz Radiofrequency Fields.
Lu Y, He M, Zhang Y, Xu S, Zhang L, He Y, Chen C, Liu C, Pi H, Yu Z, Zhou Z. · 2014
View Original AbstractCell phone frequency radiation triggers brain inflammation through distinct pathways in different immune cells, potentially explaining reported neurological effects.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed brain immune cells (microglia and astrocytes) to 1800 MHz radiofrequency radiation - the same frequency used by many cell phones. They found that RF exposure triggered inflammatory responses in both cell types, but through different biological pathways. The study identified a specific protein (STAT3) that could be targeted to potentially protect against RF-induced brain inflammation.
Why This Matters
This research provides crucial mechanistic insight into how cell phone radiation may affect brain health. The science demonstrates that RF exposure at cellular phone frequencies can trigger inflammatory responses in the brain's immune cells - a finding that helps explain the neurological symptoms reported by some mobile phone users. What makes this study particularly significant is that it identifies different inflammatory pathways in different brain cell types, suggesting the effects are more complex than previously understood. The researchers' identification of STAT3 as a potential protective target represents an important step toward understanding how RF exposure might contribute to neuroinflammation. While the study used cell cultures rather than living brains, the inflammatory markers measured are the same ones associated with various neurological conditions in humans.
Exposure Information
Specific exposure levels were not quantified in this study. The study examined exposure from: 1800 MHz
Study Details
we investigated the pro-inflammatory responses of microglia and astrocytes and the involved mechanism in response to RF fields.
Microglial N9 and astroglial C8-D1A cells were exposed to 1800 MHz RF for different time with or wit...
Microglia and astrocytes were activated by RF exposure indicated by up-regulated CD11b and glial fib...
Our results demonstrated that RF exposure differentially induced pro-inflammatory responses in microglia and astrocytes, which involved differential activation of STAT3 in microglia and astrocytes. Our data provide novel insights into the potential mechanisms of the reported CNS impacts associated with mobile phone use and present STAT3 as a promising target to protect humans against increasing RF exposure.
Show BibTeX
@article{y_2014_differential_proinflammatory_responses_of_2386,
author = {Lu Y and He M and Zhang Y and Xu S and Zhang L and He Y and Chen C and Liu C and Pi H and Yu Z and Zhou Z.},
title = {Differential Pro-Inflammatory Responses of Astrocytes and Microglia Involve STAT3 Activation in Response to 1800 MHz Radiofrequency Fields.},
year = {2014},
url = {https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0108318},
}