1Bioelectromagnetics Laboratory, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
2Department of Neurobiology, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
3Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
4Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Department of Psychology, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou 310018, China
Qunli Zeng (zengqunli@hotmail.com) & Peilin Yu (yupeilin@zju.edu.cn)

Abstract 

The prevalence of domestic and industrial electrical appliances has raised concerns about the health risk of extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (ELF-MFs). At present, the effects of ELF-MFs on the central nervous system are still highly controversial, and few studies have investigated its effects on cultured neurons. Here, we evaluated the biological effects of different patterns of ELF-MF exposure on primary cultured hippocampal neurons in terms of viability, apoptosis, genomic instability, and oxidative stress. The results showed that repeated exposure to 50-Hz 2-mT ELF-MF for 8 h per day after different times in culture decreased the viability and increased the production of intracellular reactive oxidative species in hippocampal neurons. The mechanism was potentially related to the up-regulation of Nox2 expression. Moreover, none of the repeated exposure patterns had significant effects on DNA damage, apoptosis, or autophagy, which suggested that ELF-MF exposure has no severe biological consequences in cultured hippocampal neurons.

Keywords

ELF-MF, Primary cultured hippocampal neurons, Oxidative stress, Cell viability

[SpringerLink]