Effect of 50-Hz Magnetic Fields on Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Regions in Bone Marrow Cells

Background: Exposure to an increasing amount of extremely low-frequency magnetic fields (MFs) causessome adverse effects. Considering a direct association between the sizes and numbers of argyrophilicnucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) and cell proliferation, this study was conducted to evaluate theeffect of 50-Hz MFs on the AgNORs of bone marrow (BM) cells.Methods: Eighty male rats were randomly divided into four exposed groups and one control group. Theexposed groups received 50-Hz MFs with magnetic flux densities of 1, 100, 500, and 2000 μT two hoursa day for two months. BM cells were aspirated from sacrificed rats’ femoral bones, smeared on glassslides, and then stained with silver nitrate for AgNORs. The area (AA), length (AL), and number (AN) ofAgNORs were calculated by a microscope equipped with a camera and Scion Image software in 100 BMcells of each rat. The mean of AA, AL, and AN was computed for each group.Results: AA, AL, and AN significantly reduced in the 1 μT group compared with 2000 μT and controlgroups. Eventually, there was a nonlinear relationship between the effect of 50-Hz MFs and magneticflux densities.Conclusion: Overall, 50-Hz MFs with a magnetic flux density of 1 μT reduced AgNORs in BM cells.However, 100, 500, and 2000 μT did not affect AgNORs. Therefore, 50-Hz MFs with low density maysuppress BM cell proliferation.

Effect of 50-Hz Magnetic Fields on Argyrophilic Nucleolar Organizer Regions in Bone Marrow Cells Keywords:

Bone marrow , Argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions , Magnetic fields