Effects of static magnetic fields on bone microstructure and mechanical properties in mice

ABSTRACT

All the living organisms originate, evolve and live under geomagnetic field (GMF, 20–70 µT). With rapid development in science and technology, exposure to various static magnetic fields (SMFs) from natural and man-made sources remains a public environmental topic in consideration of its probable health risk for humans. Many animal studies related to health effect have demonstrated that SMF could improve bone formation and enhance bone healing. Moreover, most of the studies focused on local SMF generated by rod-type magnet. It was difficult to come to a conclusion that how SMF affected bone metabolism in mice. The present study employed hypomagnetic field (HyMF, 500 nT), and moderate SMF (MMF, 0.2 T) to systematically investigate the effects of SMF with continuous exposure on microstructure and mechanical properties of bone. Our results clearly indicated that 4-week MMF exposure did not affect bone biomechanical properties or bone microarchitecture, while HyMF significantly inhibited the growth of mice and elasticity of bone. Furthermore, mineral elements might mediate the biological effect of SMF.

KEYWORDS:

• Static magnetic fields
• Bone growth
• Bone microstructure
• Bone biomechanical properties

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31600674), Project funded by China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2017M610352), and the Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions.