Enhancing Effect of Low Frequency Pulsed Electromagnetic Fields on Lectin-Induced Human Lymphocyte Proliferation

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Abstract
The effect on cell proliferation of continuous exposure of human peripheral lymphocytes from a total of 19 subjects (14 healthy donors, 1 patient with muscular dystrophy (M.D.) and his 4 siblings) to pulsed extremely-low-frequency, low-intensity electromagnetic fields (PEMFs) was studied. PEMFs were not mitogenic by themselves, and a slightly reduced 3H-thymidine (3H-TdR) incorporation in unstimulated lymphocyte cultures was observed. In phytohemagglutinin-stimulated lymphocyte cultures, increased 3H-TdR incorporation was observed in all subjects. The increase was statistically significant at optimal and supraoptimal phytohemagglutinin doses. The subjects belonging to the M.D. family exhibited a PEMF-induced increase of 3H-TdR incorporation higher than that found in healthy donors. The variables that appeared to be important were the characteristics of the field, the geometry of the microculture system, the dose of the mitogen employed, and the immune status of the lymphocyte donors. The hypothesis that PEMFs may affect lymphocyte proliferation by decreasing cell membrane fluidity is suggested.