Neural cell responses to low frequency electromagnetic field exposure: implications regarding oxidative stress and neurodegeneration

Many studies have investigated on the effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) on human health, in particular, on the extremely low frequencies used in electrical power lines (50–60 Hz), and on the radiofrequency (RF: from 3 kHz up to 300 MHz) and microwaves (MW: from 300MHz up to 3 GHz), typical of cell phone and television transmissions. In previous our in vitro studies, we have demonstrated that a brief exposure to EMF at 900 MHz with an amplitude modulation at 50 Hz, on rat primary astrocytes induced oxidative stress and DNA fragmentation. We also demonstrated that this is not a thermic effect. Up today the mechanism of this effect is not well clarified. We hypotized that it may be related to the increase of intracellular calcium ions levels, probably due to the hyperstimulation of the glutamate receptors, which play a crucial role in the acute and chronic brain damage including neurodegerative diseases, such as Alzheimer and Parkinson Diseases. Furthermore, since it is known that a reduced functionality of olfactory system represents an early sign of neurodegeneration, we assessed the effect of RF electromagnetic field modulated and not modulated in amplitude on Olfactory Ensheating Cells (OECs). This cell type shows characteristics of stem cells, expresses several growth factors, is able to promote axonal regeneration and functional restoration in the injured sites of Central Nervous System. Preliminary results show that a brief exposure to EMF is able to induce a significant increase in cellular viability and a considerable difference between cell cultures exposed to RF modulate and not modulated. Studies are now in progress to better clarify the molecular mechanisms induced by EMF on OECs, in order to highlight also the involvement of glutamate receptors.