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. 2021 Sep 6;22(1):52.
doi: 10.1186/s12868-021-00656-x.

Effect of extremely low frequency magnetic fields on oxidative balance in rat brains subjected to an experimental model of chronic unpredictable mild stress

Leticia R Quesnel-Galván  1 , Patricia V Torres-Durán  2 , David Elías-Viñas  3 , Leticia Verdugo-Díaz  4
Affiliations

Effect of extremely low frequency magnetic fields on oxidative balance in rat brains subjected to an experimental model of chronic unpredictable mild stress

Leticia R Quesnel-Galván et al. BMC Neurosci. .

Abstract

Background: There has been an increasing interest in researching on the effects of extremely low-frequency magnetic fields on living systems. The mechanism of action of extremely low-frequency magnetic fields on organisms has not been established. One of the hypotheses is related to induce changes in oxidative balance. In this study, we measured the effects of chronic unpredictable mild stress induced-oxidative balance of rat's brain exposed to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields.

Methods: A first experiment was conducted to find out if 14 days of chronic unpredictable mild stress caused oxidative unbalance in male Wistar rat's brain. Catalase activity, reduced glutathione concentration, and lipoperoxidation were measured in cerebrum and cerebellum. In the second experiment, we investigate the effects of 7 days extremely low-frequency magnetic fields exposure on animals stressed and unstressed.

Results: The main results obtained were a significant increase in the catalase activity and reduced glutathione concentration on the cerebrum of animals where the chronic unpredictable mild stress were suspended at day 14 and then exposed 7 days to extremely low-frequency magnetic fields. Interestingly, the same treatment decreases the lipoperoxidation in the cerebrum. The stressed animals that received concomitant extremely low frequency magnetic fields exposure showed an oxidative status like stressed animals by 21 days. Thus, no changes were observed on the chronic unpredictable mild stress induced-oxidative damage in the rat's cerebrum by the extremely low-frequency magnetic field exposure together with chronic unpredictable mild stress.

Conclusions: The extremely low-frequency electromagnetic field exposure can partially restore the cerebrum antioxidant system of previously stressed animals.

Keywords: Antioxidant system; Magnetic fields; Mild stress; TBARs.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Stress parameters. a Percentage of weight gain; b Plasma corticosterone concentration. Each column represents mean ± SEM (n = 8). The data were analyzed by the Kruskal-Wallis test with multiple comparisons. *p < 0.05 between all CUMS groups vs. control group
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Biomarkers of oxidative balance in the cerebellum. a Catalase (CAT kat/µg protein); b reduced glutathione (GSH nmol/µg protein); c malondialdehyde (MDA ng/mg protein). Data are expressed as mean ± SEM (n = 8)
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Biomarkers of oxidative balance in the cerebrum. a Catalase (CAT kat/mg protein); b reduced glutathione (GSH nmol/mg protein); c malondialdehyde (MDA ng/mg protein). Data are expressed as mean ± SEM (n = 8). The data were analyzed by the Kruskal-Wallis test with multiple comparisons. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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