The effects of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields on c-Maf, STAT6, and RORα expressions in spleen and thymus of rat

ABSTRACT

The study investigated the effect of extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) exposure at different magnetic flux densities on genes expression of transcription factor Maf (c-Maf), signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT6), and retinoid-related orphan receptor alpha (RORα) in the spleen and thymus of rats. Eighty adult male rats were separated into four ELF-EMFs exposed and were exposed to magnetic flux densities of 1, 100, 500, and 2000 µT at a frequency of 50 Hz for 2 h daily for up to 60 d. All rats were intraperitoneally immunized on d 31, 44, and 58 of exposure. The experimental results showed that the expression levels of c-Maf, STAT6, and RORα in the thymus were not significantly changed at different magnetic flux densities. The expression levels of RORα and c-Maf were significantly downregulated at the densities of 1 and 100 µT, while the expression of STAT6 was only significantly decreased at the density of 100 µT. In conclusion, low magnetic flux densities of ELF-EMFs may reduce the expression levels of c-Maf, STAT6, and RORα genes in the spleen.

KEYWORDS:

• Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields
• signal transducer and activator of transcription 6
• transcription factor Maf
• retinoid-related orphan receptor alpha
• spleen
• thymus

Acknowledgments

This study is extracted from the Ph.D. thesis of H. Mahaki.

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

This work was supported by the Deputy of Research, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences [grant number: 9406243405].