Toward establishment of temperature thresholds for immunological impact of heat exposure in humans

Abstract

There is interest in understanding the health impact of thermal effects as a result of exposure of humans to radiofrequency/microwave (RF/MW) fields. Immune cells and responses are affected by modest changes in temperature and it is important to quantify these effects and establish safety thresholds similar to what has been done with other tissue targets. Since previous summaries of thresholds for thermal damage to normal tissues have not focused much attention to cells of the immune system, this summary highlights recent studies which demonstrate positive and some negative effects of temperature shifts on human immune cells. We emphasise literature reporting adverse immunological endpoints (such as cell damage, death and altered function) and provide the temperature at which these effects were noted. Whereas there have been many in vitro studies of adverse temperature effects on immune cells, there has been limited validation of these temperature effects in vivo. However, data from heat stress/stroke patients do provide some information regarding core temperatures (40°C) at which thermal damage to immunological processes can begin to occur. We conclude that there is considerable need for more quantitative time temperature assessments using relevant animal models, more complete kinetic analyses to determine how long immunological effects persist, and for analysis of whether frequency of exposure has impact on immune function. To date, no attempt to categorise effects by using cumulative thermal dose measurements (e.g. cumulative equivalent minutes at a given temperature) has been conducted for cells or tissues of the immune system, representing a major gap in this field.

• fever
• heat stress
• hyperthermia
• lymphocytes
• immune system