Coupling of oxidative stress responses to tricarboxylic acid cycle and prostaglandin E2 alterations in Caenorhabditis elegans under extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field
Sun Y, Shi Z, Wang Y, Tang C, Liao Y, Yang C, Cai P · 2018
View Original AbstractPower-frequency magnetic fields disrupted cellular energy production and triggered oxidative stress in developing organisms at 3 milliTesla exposure.
Plain English Summary
Researchers exposed tiny worms (C. elegans) to 50-Hz magnetic fields at 3 milliTesla from egg to larval stage and found significant disruptions in cellular energy production and inflammation pathways. The magnetic field exposure caused oxidative stress (cellular damage from free radicals), impaired the worms' energy-producing machinery, and increased inflammatory compounds. This matters because it demonstrates that power-frequency magnetic fields can disrupt fundamental biological processes at the cellular level.
Why This Matters
This study provides compelling evidence that power-frequency magnetic fields can disrupt fundamental cellular processes, even in a simple organism like C. elegans. The 3 milliTesla exposure level is notably high - roughly 300 times stronger than typical residential magnetic field levels near power lines (which range from 0.01-0.1 milliTesla). However, the fact that researchers observed clear metabolic disruption, oxidative stress, and inflammatory responses demonstrates the biological activity of ELF magnetic fields at intensities that exceed but aren't astronomically higher than real-world exposures. What makes this research particularly valuable is its focus on oxidative stress and metabolic disruption - two mechanisms that appear consistently across EMF bioeffects research. The study shows how magnetic field exposure can create a cascade of biological effects: disrupted energy production leads to oxidative stress, which triggers inflammatory responses. This interconnected pattern of cellular dysfunction aligns with findings from numerous other EMF studies and helps explain the diverse health effects reported in human populations.
Exposure Details
- Magnetic Field
- 3 mG
- Source/Device
- 50-Hz
Exposure Context
This study used 3 mG for magnetic fields:
- 150Kx above the Building Biology guideline of 0.2 mG
- 30Kx 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
The objective of the present study was to investigate the physiological responses of Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) to 50 Hz, 3 mT ELF-EMF exposure.
Worms were exposed to ELF-EMF from the egg stage until reaching the fourth larva (L4) stage. After e...
The TCA cycle enzyme, fumarase was found with decreased expression under ELF-EMF exposure. And arach...
Our results suggested that exposure to 50 Hz, 3 mT ELF-EMF in C. elegans can elicit disruptions of the TCA cycle metabolism and PGE2 formation, coupling ELF-EMF-induced oxidative stress responses. Our study probably will attract increasing attentions to the controllable application of ELF-EMF associated with health and disease.
Show BibTeX
@article{y_2018_coupling_of_oxidative_stress_469,
author = {Sun Y and Shi Z and Wang Y and Tang C and Liao Y and Yang C and Cai P},
title = {Coupling of oxidative stress responses to tricarboxylic acid cycle and prostaglandin E2 alterations in Caenorhabditis elegans under extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field},
year = {2018},
doi = {10.1080/09553002.2019.1524943},
url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09553002.2019.1524943},
}